Amarillo, Tx: The Wranglers ended their inaugural season with a 4-to-2 win over Wichita Falls in front of over 3,000 fans at the Amarillo Civic Center.
The regular-season finale began with a ceremony honoring the 13 seniors on the Wranglers for their hard work and accomplishments throughout the season.
The Wranglers would get the party started early when they cashed in on the power-play when Danylo Korzhyletskyi scored his seventh goal and give Amarillo a 1-to-0 lead just 3:16 into the game. The Warriors would respond later in the period when Cade Lemmer scored at 8:16 of the period. Max Gutjahr would be called upon to face 14 shots in the opening period and would hold the 1-to-1 score going into the second.
Amarillo woud respond with quick goals in the period when Tj Koufis reclaimed the Wranglers lead at 5:37 of the second followed by Tommy Chunchukov finding the back of the net a 6:11. The period would see the Wranglers go on the penatly kill twice late in the frame. After keeping the Warriors power-play off the board for the first seven attempts of the weekend, the Wranglers would surrender a power-play goal when Lemmer tallied his second goal of the night at 16:27.
The first half of the third period would be controlled by Wichita Falls but Gutjahr and the defense infront of him would continue to block shots and keep the puck out. Gutjhar would send the crowd to their feet with a series of acrobatic stops going from post to post to perserve the Wrangelrs lead.
Amarillo would reclaim their two-goal lead when Kyle Demarco let a heavy point shot go that got through Warriors goalie Brandon Milberg for a power-play goal. The Wranglers would have a 4-to-2 lead in the final nine minutes and looked to hold on for their first win over the Warriors this season.
The Wranglers would hold onto to the two-goal lead and cap off their inagural season with a victory over the Wichita Falls Warriors. Gutjahr would make 32 saves to pick up 18 wins on the year. With a multipoint game, Korzhyletskyi would collect 18 points in 23 games. Glebs Prohorenkovs would register two assists to finish his year with 53 points. Affilate player Trey Lance would collect his first career NAHL point with an assist on Kyle Demarcos goal in the third.
Amarillo conlcudes their first season with a 27-29-1-3 record. The Wranglers already have a handful of tenderd players for next season and will host a showcase camp along with the Austin Bruins, Corpus Christi Ice Rays, and Chippewa Steel in Las Vegas June 10-12th before the NAHL draft.