Home Advantage Strikes Again with Clean Sunday Sweep

Photo Credit: Bella Deramo

Norwich 1 @ Long Beach 3 - After dropping Saturday night’s game in an upset against the Sea Captains, the Sharks of Long Beach tightened up and gave it right back with a 3-1 win Sunday afternoon. Both teams had great goaltending and high shot totals, only the Sharks were able to make it count and even up the weekend series. It took just about four minutes to find the first goal, and it was Caden Schafer pocketing the rebound off a James DiTommaso shot to give the Sharks an early lead. It then took the remainder of the first period, the entirety of the second, and a majority of the third before the second goal of the contest would be scored. At around the midpoint of the final frame, Sean Bailey took a deceptive shot immediately after the faceoff that caught the goaltender off guard and extended the Sharks lead. Two and a half minutes later, Henry Pinkerman took matters into his own hands with a five hole goal to cut the lead in half, but Bailey buried his second of the night on the empty netter and ended the contest. Shots at the end of this bout were 45-38 in favor of Long Beach, which goes to show just how solid Nicklas Walker was in net for the Sharks. Despite being met with a high shot total, Walker stood strong and gave his team the perfect foundation to best the Captains on home ice.

West Texas 1 @ New Mexico 3 - The New Mexico Ice Wolves took a stifling 3-1 win over the opposing West Texas Wranglers on home ice. Despite some solid response to adversity from the Wranglers, the Ice Wolves did a great job of capitalizing on their opportunities down the stretch in order to win this game. It took 18 minutes to see the first goal of the contest when Grant Sexton scored his first of the evening. Just over a minute later, Zachary Polkes got in alone on the goaltender and made an excellent move to score the equalizer. It was looking as though the second period would come and go without any action, but Sexton scored his second of the night with just 37 seconds left in the frame to give his Ice Wolves the 2-1 lead. The third period didn’t have much action besides a Caleb Debruyne goal to give New Mexico some insurance, and the final buzzer sounded. Wranglers netminder Garret Lant deserves a tip of the hat for saving 30 of the Ice Wolves 33 shots. Despite some solid goaltending, the Wranglers offensive simply couldn’t gain much momentum which allowed the Ice Wolves to maintain a small lead for much of the game before winning in suffocating fashion.

Atlanta 0 @ Louisiana 9 - The Drillers continued their incredibly dominant season with a 9-0 win over the bottom feeder Atlanta Capitals. The Drillers got out to a quick start, shot 10 times the amount the Capitals did, and slowly extended their lead before winning in most convincing fashion. The Drillers started at the midpoint of the first period with a Carter Tymchak rebound goal on the power play. Then, the penalty kill got in on the scoring thanks to Nathan Moore with 3:45 remaining in the first. Zachary Marsell tacked on one more in the dying moments of the frame and the Drillers entered the first intermission with a 3-0 lead. The second period took a moment to see any scoring, but Carter Gnau changed that and Dylan Crossley followed in quick succession to extend the lead to five. Crossley then buried his second of the night, and Lucas Dyer scored on the powerplay with a minute and a half remaining in the period. Dyer then scored his second goal of the evening, the second Drillers player with a multigoal game, and Dayton Ruppel scored a short-handed goal for the ninth and final Louisiana tally of the night. The tale of two NA3HL teams. A Drillers team that has yet to lose in regulation, and a Capitals team that has earned the fewest points in the entire league. Ultimately, the Drillers showed why they haven’t just won 33 games to this point, but how they have done so in convincing fashion all season long. 

Texas (B) 3 @ El Paso 4 - The El Paso Rhinos put together a solid evening on home ice in a big inter-division game against the Texas Brahmas. With the score tied going into the third period, it was the Rhinos that were able to turn the game in their favor and maintain it before the final buzzer. Nick Nunez picked the corner for the first goal of the night and the Rhinos got out to a quick lead. Two minutes later, Xavier Othon converted on the power play and tied the score at one. Not long after, Benjamin Humphreys tacked on for his tenth goal of the year and the Brahmas finished the first period with a 2-1 lead. Around the midpoint of the period, Patrick Garvey took an interference penalty that sent the Rhinos to the power play. This then led to Cutter Daniel scoring the equalizer and sending this contest into a tied third period. Two and a half minutes into the frame, Kenneth Cadwallader put on some silky mitts and beat the goalie to give the Rhinos the lead. Tucker Sarkisian scored some insurance for the Rhinos, and Tyler Conrad scored one for the Brahmas that would give them some life but ultimately did not matter as the final buzzer sounded and El Paso took the ‘W.’ In some ways, you could consider this a must win game for either team as the Rhinos now sit 3 points behind the Brahmas in the standings as the season enters the home stretch. Hats off to El Paso for coming from behind and showing resilience as they took down the Brahmas and gave themselves an opportunity to put even more pressure on the upper half of the South Division.