Odessa, TX – The Amarillo Wranglers defeated the Odessa Jackalopes by the final score of 2-1 on Saturday night at Ector County Coliseum. This was the first game of a three-game set between the Jackalopes and Wranglers this weekend.
Both starting goaltenders in the matchup were making their league-leading 23rd start, with Connor McDonough between the pipes for the Wranglers, and Quentin Sigurdson for the Jackalopes. Odessa entered the matchup on a four-game win streak, while the Wranglers were coming off of an overtime victory against the Lone Star Brahmas.
The Jackalopes wasted no time getting onto the scoresheet, as just 1:12 into the contest James Richman put home a rebound to give the Jackalopes a 1-0 lead. Adam Armijo and Cameron Dunn picked up the assists on the goal. Despite allowing the first goal early on, the Wranglers settled into the game and were able to kill a penalty at the tail end of the period. Shots were 9-7 in favor of Odessa after 20 minutes of play.
After going 2/2 on the penalty kill, the Wranglers struck the back of the net on their first power play opportunity. Kyle DeMarco fired a shot off the end wall that found Papaspyropoulos waiting back door for the game-tying goal. Papaspyropoulos’ seventh goal of the season came 9:29 into the second period from DeMarco and Jeffers. With the assist, Drew Jeffers extended his point streak to three games (2g, 1a). Shots were 20-15 in favor of Odessa after two periods.
The Wranglers took the lead early into the third period when Jack Ivey capped off a beautiful set of passes with a top-shelf goal on Sigurdson. Ivey’s goal came 3:49 into the third period from McDonald and Zap to make it 2-1. With the assist, McDonald now has an assist in each of his last three games. The Wranglers were able to hold the Jackalopes off the scoresheet for the remainder of the game to secure the 2-1 victory on the road. Connor McDonough stopped 23/24 shots faced for his 13th victory of the season. With the win, the Wranglers improved to 15-9-5 on the season and picked up their sixth point in the race for the Austin Hose Hoser Cup.
The Wranglers will hit the ice again Friday night for the second game of the three-game set. Puck drop is 7:15 CST, you can watch on NATV or listen in on YouTube.