The Roadrunners took two out of three games this past weekend from the El Paso Rhinos. The team continued to have a hot start to the young season and is currently sitting in third place in the NA3HL South division.
Friday Final:
El Paso 2 @ Texas R 3 – The Texas Roadrunners (6-1) keep running towards first place in the South Division, winning their sixth straight on Friday over the El Paso Rhinos (0-6) at Spirit Ice by a score of 3-2. Since dropping their first game of the season, the Roadrunners have scored three or more goals in each game, winning all six, and each featuring a goal from Texas forward Skylar Bawcom. This six-game streak for Bawcom is the longest of his young career and has featured two hat tricks. Bawcom currently leads his team with 10 goals and is tied for the second-most goals in the NA3HL. Conversely, the Rhinos offense has been consistent in a worse sense, scoring one or fewer goals in four of their six losses, posting a league-worst .088 power play success rate in the process. The Texas home win, which also showed goals scored by forwards Lucas Dyer and Vincenzo Cavazos, puts the Roadrunners second in the South division at 22 points – 11 behind the first-place Brahmas. The winless Rhinos occupy last place in the South division with no points.
Saturday Final:
El Paso 0 @ Texas R 5 – Texas jumped all over El Paso in a dominant 5-0 victory last night. The Roadrunners struck thrice in the first period. Skylar Bawcom’s 11th goal of the year broke the ice before Kyle Mackintosh scored less than two minutes later. Vincenzo Cavazos finished the big period with his goal at 17:34. Texas struck for two more in the third following a scoreless middle frame. Adrian Abram scored his first of the year 14 seconds in the final 20 minutes ahead of Bawcom’s 12th of the year into an empty net. Jimmy Packee stopped all 25 shots he faced in the win while Aiden Wysoglad made 32 saves in the victory. Texas added their 11th and 12th points (6-1-0-0) of the season with the win while El Paso continue to search for their first point (0-6-0-0) of the year.
Sunday Final:
El Paso 4 @ Texas 0 – El Paso would look to split the weekend after a shutout loss to the Road Runners the day before. Donovan Bradford would open the scoring on the powerplay, giving the Rhinos the lead after the first. Jake Bamback doubled the lead in the second, which would then lead to the Road Runners getting into penalty trouble. In the third, Bradford would score his second power-play goal of the game. The rest of the third would essentially be a Rhino powerplay and Andre Valenzuela would score a powerplay goal to beat the clock and give El Paso the 4-0 win. Dylan Newton would pick up the shutout with 37 saves, with Jimmy Packee making 42 saves in the loss for Texas.
“All in all I am okay with this weekends outcome. Sure we want to win every game but to do that the guy’s need to show up and play consistent. We are dealing with teenagers that are beginning to become adults and that can be tough for some guys for sure. They have to learn that you can’t beat a team twice and think the next one is automatic. I give credit to the Rhinos. They came to play on Sunday and their goaltender put on a great show.” Stated Roadrunners Head Coach Mike Beavis.
The Roadrunners are not quite done with El Paso as the two teams will meet this coming weekend in El Paso for their second consecutive set of three games in three days. Tempers were boiling near the end of this past weekend and we could see things pick up where they left off or will cooler heads prevail. This will be an interesting series for the fans to play close attention to.
“It’s Hockey… guys get mad but after the game things tend to settle down. I know our guys have friends on El Paso so I am sure it leads to mere bragging rights between them. At the end of the day we want our guys to play hard and battle but to keep in mind that we are all in this game for the love of the sport and need to compete when the puck drops and shake hands when the game is over, no matter the outcome. Going to El Paso for me is a nice trip, I get to visit with friends and their fans are electric. It’s an experience and the Rhino’s staff puts on a great show.” Added Beavis
The Runners will hit the ice on Tuesday and Wednesday morning to begin to prepare for the upcoming weekend before heading to El Paso on Thursday. Games are 7:05 MT on Friday and Saturday and 4:30PM MT on Sunday. Be sure to catch all the action live on NAHL.TV