New Mexico Battles Back Against Austin

Photo Credit: Lyca Williams

Louisiana 7 @ Carolina 1 - The Drillers and the Rage square off in their final matchup of the three-game weekend, with Louisiana looking to complete the sweep, as well as stay undefeated in the season. Mason Orr would earn the start in net for the Rage, while Owen Huisman would be the starting goalie for the Drillers. The Drillers would waste no time with Brody Neish scoring his 20th of the season on the power play. The Drillers would be quick to add two more goals just 30 seconds apart. Carter Gnau would score his 16th and 17th goals of the season, bringing the score to 3-0. The Drillers would not be done quite yet, with who else but Gnau, scoring his 18th goal of the season and giving him the natural hat trick. The Drillers would go into intermission with a 4-0 lead. The two teams started the second period with back-and-forth action. Both goalies would make outstanding saves throughout the frame. The Rage would break the ice with Tobin Tuzinsky netting his 12th of the season at the 1:58 mark. The second period would end with the Drillers being up 4-1, and the Rage holding onto the momentum. Branden Bates was quick to score for the Drillers, bringing the game to 5-1. Zachary Marsell would add another goal for the Drillers just four minutes later to continue the dominant performance by the Drillers. At the 8:23 mark of the third period, Neish would score his 21st of the season to bring the final score 7-1 for the Drillers. Louisiana has continued its red-hot streak, bringing its streak to 13 wins in a row to start the season. The Rage look to bounce back next week when they take on the Atlanta Capitals.

New Mexico 4 @ Austin 3 - The South Division’s top teams battled yesterday at Ice and Fields at the Crossover, with the New Mexico Ice Wolves earning a 4-3 victory over the Austin Ice Bats. After a quiet first period, the Ice Bats got to work in the middle frame. Mason Manderfield got two on the board, and Luke Fowler found the back of the net for Austin, sending them into the final frame up by three. The Ice Wolves responded in the third with a decisive four goals. Alex Ihling notched two in for New Mexico, and Grant Sexton earned a point, locking up the contest at three. With three seconds left in the match, Brock Seeger made the game-winning shot for New Mexico, ending the thrilling comeback with an Ice Wolves victory. New Mexico’s Joshua Middleton had a night in net with 40 saves, and Austin’s Michael Lane had 29 saves.

Texas R 10 @ Bayou State 1 - The Texas RoadRunners faced the Bayou State Rougarou in a decisive 10-1 victory to earn the weekend sweep at the Monroe Civic Center. Lucas Dyer began a productive opening frame for Texas, with Wyatt Mineheine, Kristopher Pope, and Michael Garrett each finding the back of the net to give the RoadRunners an early lead heading into the second. Mineheine and William Heskett notched two goals for Texas in the second to extend the lead, and Dyer made back-to-back shots to earn a hat trick for the night, ending the period up by eight. Texas’ offense was not done heading into the third, and Mineheine found the back of the net early in the frame to earn a hat trick. Bayou State’s Ethan Tierman scored the only goal for the Rougarou as he found the back of the net with 13:34 to go in the contest. Joseph Izzo notched one more in for Texas to end the decisive match with a 10-1 victory. Colby Lee defended Texas with 15 saves between the pipes, and Bayou State’s Jared Lang had a productive 47 saves for the night.