Albuquerque, NM – The New Mexico Ice Wolves defeated the Amarillo Wranglers 6-3 on Saturday night in Game 2 of the Robertson Cup Play-In. With the loss, Amarillo has been eliminated and New Mexico will advance to Round 1 of the Robertson Cup Playoffs.
After falling 2-1 in Game 1 the Wranglers were facing elimination in Game 2. Connor McDonough got the start between the pipes for Amarillo after stopping an impressive 39/41 shots faced in Game 1. New Mexico started Andy Vlaha in goal, who stopped 27/28 shots faced in Game 1.
Amarillo got off to a hot start, scoring just 14 seconds into the game. Off of the opening faceoff, Jack McDonald made a steal on the far side boards to set up Ben Ivey in the slot. Ivey made a move from his forehand to his backhand to beat Vlaha on the first shot of the game and put Amarillo up 1-0. However, just 1:05 after Ivey’s goal, New Mexico responded with a goal of their own from Bryce Johnson to tie the game at 1-1. The game remained tied at the end of the first period with both teams going 0/1 on the power play and New Mexgolico outshooting Amarillo 16-7.
In the opening moments of the second period, New Mexico went up on the power play and Michael Schermerhorn scored one minute into the period to go up 2-1. Then just 1:26 afterwards the Ice Wolves scored again to go up 3-1 with a goal from Graham Harris. With a few whistles after the Harris goal the Wranglers were able to slow the Ice Wolves momentum and settle back into the game, and 7:37 into the second period scored to cut into the New Mexico lead at 3-2. Topi Puikkonen rifled a sharp angle shot from beneath the right circle to beat Vlaha top shelf and make it a one goal game. The Ice Wolves led 3-2 after two periods of play.
The game’s next goal belonged to the Ice Wolves’ Oliver Lamothe 6:17 into the third period putting New Mexico up 4-2. Amarillo responded with a highlight reel goal from Jack McDonald to pull within one goal again just 2:11 after Lamothe’s goal. After McDonald’s goal momentum started to turn in the Wranglers’ favor and they began to press, but a steal at the New Mexico blue line sent Ryan Seelinger and Jonnny Johannson the other way where Johannson scored with 7:26 remaining in the third to boost the Ice Wolves lead to 5-3. New Mexico added a late empty netter from Yusaku Ando to settle the score at 6-3 and seal the Wranglers fate.
With the loss, the Wranglers were eliminated from the Robertson Cup Playoffs and the 2023-24 season came to a close. It was a season that saw the Wranglers reach a new record for points in a season with 72, going 32-20-6-2 on the regular season, and reaching the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Connor McDonough broke the Wranglers single season wins record with 26 wins and Jack Ivey became just the second Wrangler ever to score 30+ goals in a single season with 32. The Wranglers also had five players commit to NCAA hockey by the conclusion of the season, with four going DI.
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