Amarillo, TX – The Amarillo Wranglers defeated the Lone Star Brahmas in overtime on Saturday by the final score of 4-3 in the season series finale between the two clubs.
Connor McDonough started in net for the Wranglers for the second straight night. McDonough entered the contest with a record of 11-6-4, a 2.38 GAA, and a .909 save percentage. Jack Wieneke got the start for the Brahmas, posting a record of 8-0, a .56 GAA, and a .969 save percentage with the Brahmas this season.
Lone Star’s Ivan Zadvernyuk opened the scoring 8:11 into the first period with assists coming from Justin Kerr and Matyas Borak. Amarillo went 1/1 on the penalty kill, as there was only one penalty in the first frame. Shots were 14-13 in favor of the Wranglers after 20 minutes of play.
Ben Ivey tied the game 1-1 and sent teddy bears flying over the glass 3:37 into the second period. Jack Ivey and Jack McDonald picked up the assists on the goal. With 5:10 remaining in the second period, Brock James scored to give Lon Star a 2-1 lead with assists from Max Hamstad and Jacob MacDonald. The Wranglers responded 18 seconds later with a goal from Topi Puikkonen to tie the game at 2-2. Puikkonen’s goal was assisted by Roman Zap and Henry McRoberts. After two periods, the shot count was 30-27 in favor of Amarillo.
The Wranglers started the period with an abbreviated power play and cashed in to take a 3-2 lead. Henry McRoberts scored his first NAHL goal on the man advantage and with an assist earlier, recorded his first multi-point game of the season. 9:38 into the third period, Ray Murakami scored for Lone Star to tie the game up 3-3. Zadvernyuk and Ingles were credited with the assists. 60 minutes wasn’t enough, as the game was tied 3-3 after regulation.
In overtime, Drew Jeffers beat Wieneke for the game-winning goal to lift the Wranglers to victory. Puikkonen and Zap picked up assists on Jeffers’ game-winner. The win helps the Wranglers advance to 14-9-5 on the season, and Amarillo comes away with 3/4 available standings points this weekend. Zap, Puikkonen, and McRoberts each had multi-point games.
The Wranglers head to Odessa this weekend for a three-game set with the Jackalopes, the first of which is on Thursday, December 14th at 7:15 CST. You can watch live on NATV or listen in on our YouTube audio stream.