The RoadRunners completed the weekend sweep of the Austin Ice Bats this past weekend at the Spirit Ice Arena in Bryan / College Station.
Austin 0 @ TX RoadRunners 5: Eitan Geralnik led the RoadRunners with a goal and two helpers as Texas blanked Austin 5-0. Jack Klunk had a goal and an assist while Dominic Maangiapane, Tyler Singpradith and Jack Herron all scored for the RoadRunners. Alexander Opalacz was perfect, stopping all 16 shots he faced. Sebastian Skarzenski was busy on the other end of the ice as he made 56 saves.
Austin 1 @ TX RoadRunners 9: Six RoadRunners skaters found the back of the net and Tyler Singpradith got himself a hat trick in their convincing victory over the Ice Bats. Eitan Geralnik, Kyle Portlock, Singpradith, and Tyler Love all had scores in the opening period to extend the lead early. In the middle frame, Singpradith found a pair to secure the hat trick and Samuel Bourdon added another to further the lead. Derek Boutin, and Geralnik were the goal scorers for Texas in the 3rd. Austin’s lone goal came in the 3rd period as Jaylen Mendez scored his fourth of the year to break up the shutout. Hunter Hein made 16 stops for the RoadRunners while Elias Kyrola and Trace Wiles shared net time for Austin, combining for 65 saves.
Austin 0 @ TX RoadRunners 6 – The RoadRunners got a 14-save shutout from Kaleb Banks and a hat-trick and assist from Jaron Ketterman as they completed a three-game sweep of the Ice Bats thanks to a 6-0 win. Ketterman scored twice in the 1st period along with a goal from Kyle Portlock. The lead swelled to 4-0 in the 2nd period as Portlock added his second goal of the game. In the 3rd period Derek Boutin and Ketterman rounded out the scoring. Austin goalie Sebastian Skarzenski made 63 saves in the loss.
The weekend sweep kept the Runners within reach of the Texas Brahmas that are currently in first place in the South Division. The Runners are now three points up on El Paso with a huge series between the two teams March 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in El Paso. The Runners will also host the OCK Ice Hawks this Tuesday and Wednesday at the Spirit Ice Arena in two rare matinee games before also hosting the Louisiana Drillers on Friday and Saturday night also at Spirit Ice. Game times for Friday and Saturday will be at 6:15 PM and this Tuesday and Wednesday will start at 1:45 PM and 3:15 PM The Runners are in a crazy schedule in the final two weeks of the regular season with 12 games to be played in just 17 days.
The Runners have also secured a playoff spot for the first time since the 2015-2016 season when the team was then known as the Sugar Land Imperials with a record of 22-24-1 with 175 goals for and 191 goals against with a 4th place finish. In comparison this seasons squad has compiled a record of 28-7-2-1 with 176 Goals for and 86 goals against and are currently in 2nd place in the division. The team is also the 7th lowest penalized team in the NA3HL. Several records have been broken this season and a few more may follow for Coach Beavis’s squad before the end of the regular season. Most notable is second year forward Derek Boutin passed the all time leading points mark this past weekend moving by Frank Muscarella from the 15-16 squad. Boutin is now in sole possession of the all time points record for the franchise. Boutin is 5 goals away from all time goals scored as he closes in on Trevor Borlace and Jonathan Adnell that are tied for first in that category. Boutin is also only 3 points behind RC Randall for most assists.
“This has been a great season so far for the team as well as the staff with big things getting done, but we still have have a lot to accomplish and will take one day at a time from here on out. Things won’t be getting any easier and we have to focus on what will take us to the next level in our game. States Coach Mike Beavis
Join the Roadrunners this week on Tuesday and Wednesday when they host OKC in two matinee games as they look to increase their lead on El Paso and gain ground on the 1st place Brahmas. Games are always live on hockeytv.com