After a somewhat slow start to the 2021 NA3HL Showcase in Blaine, MN. The Runners finally got back to the level of play they have shown has kept them near the top of the Southern division this season. The team had two tough games at home in Bryan / College Station on Friday and Saturday VS the Louisiana Drillers before traveling Sunday to the showcase.
Louisiana 2 @ TX RoadRunners 5: The RoadRunners scored a trio of goals in the 3rd period from Samuel Bourdon, Eitan Geralnik, and Tyler Love to power past the Drillers by a final score of 5-2. Tim Marsico breached the deadlock and scored the only goal of the 1st period, netting his 10th of the season for Texas. The teams traded a goal a piece in the 2nd, providing Texas a one goal edge heading into the final slate. Josh Hrip found the back of the net for Louisiana in the 3rd, but it was not enough to match up with the RoadRunners’ late offensive surge. Hunter Hein secured the victory in net with 32 saves. Pavel Grishin, stopping 53 of 58 shots, was dealt the loss.
Louisiana 1 @ TX RoadRunners 4 – Samuel Bourdon registered two goals and an assist as the Texas RoadRunners defeated the Louisiana Drillers 4-1. Jack Herron added a goal and a helper while Matthew Edestrand also found the back of the net. Alexander Opalacz was nearly perfect as he turned aside 25 of 26 shots. Daniel Ripstein had the lone tally for the Drillers. Pavel Grishin stopped 43 shots in the loss.
The team faced off against the Peoria Mustangs in game one of the event and couldn’t seem to find a way to stay out of the box. The Runners spent an unheard of forty minutes on sixteen penalty calls in the box.
TX RoadRunners 0 vs Peoria 2 – Nahuel Veyan kept out all 19 shots that he faced to record a shutout and victory for the Mustangs against Texas. After a scoreless 1st period, Peoria’s Tristan Trudel scored on the powerplay just 32 seconds into the middle period. Later in the period Jared Wisely followed up Trudel with a goal and his 2nd point of the night, scoring from Jake Ratner and Jackson Gram. Texas netminder Hunter Hein kept the contest close as he recorded 44 saves on 46 shots in the loss.
Game two of the showcase VS The Alexandria Blizzard was a much more composed game for the Runners but still they struggled to find the offensive spark that was needed to keep them in the win column.
TX RoadRunners 2 vs Alexandria 5 – Five different Alexandria skaters buried one past the netminder to take down the RoadRunners by a final score of 5-2. Colby Nickel scored the lone goal in the 1st period to put Alexandria up by one. The two teams traded goals in the middle period, Tyler Love scoring for Texas and Justin Wasvick answering just minutes later. Still holding onto a one goal lead after 40 minutes, Alexandria bursted for three consecutive goals thanks to Kaden Peterson, Alex Heidenreich, and Sean Kenny. Matthew Edestrand found the back of the net to add another Texas goal; however it was too little, too late. Joey Greilich made 21 saves in the victory while Nash Wilson was dealt the loss with 40 stops.
On the final day of the event the Runners finally got back on track facing the dominant team from the East in the Northeast Generals who just the day before lost their only game of the season. The Runners had something to prove and were going to make that statement.
Northeast 2 vs TX RoadRunners 6: The Texas RoadRunners got their first victory in the showcase, taking down Northeast by a final score of 6-2. The pinnacles of the RoadRunners offense were Jaron Ketterman and Eitan Geralnik who each recorded three points in the win. Matthew Edestrand and Jack Herron each recorded their 10th goal of the season in the game against Northeast. For the Generals, both goals came in the middle period scored by Tyler Ramm and Payton Felix. Hunter Hein stood tall in net for Texas, making 35 saves in the contest. D’Mar McCoy took the loss, completing the afternoon with 25 saves.
“All in all I am happy with the team at this point of the season. We played five games in six days and went 3-2 with two big wins within the division as well as a huge win over Northeast.” States Runners Coach Mike Beavis Beavis went onto say that he had several players spoken to by NCAA and ACHA scouts and coaches during the three day event.
The Roadrunners improved to 17-2-1-1 and are sitting in second place in the South division with 36 points and trail the first place Brahmas by 6 points with 3 games in hand. The two powerhouses will collide on January 7th – 9th at the Spirit Ice Arena in Bryan / College Station, TX. This will be the first series between the two teams and the outcome could very well decide the top spot in the South.
Be sure to catch all the action live from the Spirit Ice Arena or as always @ hockeytv.com beginning at 6:15PM CST Friday January 7th.