Amarillo, TX – The Amarillo Wranglers defeated the Oklahoma Warriors 5-1 on Saturday night at the Budweiser Bull Pen. Trevor O’Donohue scored twice as Amarillo scored five unanswered goals in the victory.
Amarillo hosted Oklahoma in what was the final game of the season for the Warriors. Wranglers netminder Charles-Antoine Girard made his third consecutive start, coming off of a 23 save shutout win over Oklahoma on Friday. The Warriors opted to start goaltender Billy Stuski for the second straight night.
The Wranglers once again got off to a hot start, scoring the first goal in their seventh straight game with Trevor O’Donohue putting in his 3rd of the year from Cole Saterdalen and Kirill Evstigneev. O’Donohue’s goal came 2:46 into the first period and marked the first of five unanswered goals from the Wranglers. Amarillo would go on to score two more goals in the first period, as 9:22 into the period Morley Phillips banged in his team leading 13th goal of the season off of crisp passes from Jacob Miller and Mason Lupo to make it 2-0. With 8:05 left in the first frame, Oklahoma turned the puck over to Ty Izadi who took advantage and ripped in his 8th of the season to give Amarillo a 3-0 lead. The Wranglers scored three goals on five shots as the Warriors outshot the Wranglers 9-5 through one period of play.
There was no scoring in the second period, but both teams ramped up the intensity and traded blows offensively. Amarillo outshot Oklahoma 13-5 in the second period to take an 18-14 lead in the shot count. The Wranglers had the Warriors frustrated and were doing a good job of preventing Oklahoma’s star players from generating anything off the rush.
Cole Saterdalen resumed the scoring 6:15 into the third period to make it a 4-0 hockey game. Kirill Evstigneev and Will Welburn assisted on Saterdalen’s 10th goal of the year. The Wranglers later on in the period went on the power play and made the Warriors pay, as O’Donohue punched in his second goal of the night off of a one-timer from the slot to give Amarillo a 5-0 lead with 6:10 to go. The Warriors did not end their season empty handed though, as with 4:41 left on the clock, Dominik Kiss was able to snap in a loose rebound by Girard to make it a 5-1 game. The Wranglers improved to 23-29-2-4 with the win, as Girard stopped 18/19 in the victory and 41/42 in two games vs the Warriors. Amarillo went 1/3 on the power play and 1/1 on the penalty kill.
One game remains for the Wranglers as they will host the Colorado Grit in the season finale on Sunday at 6:00 PM. Tickets are free at the Civic Center Box Office. Those intending on receiving a free ticket must be present at the box office to claim. Fans can watch on NATV or listen in on the Wranglers YouTube channel.