Friday: El Paso Rhinos 3 @ Oklahoma City Warriors 4 – We’re off to Oklahoma City today as we prepare to face off against the Warriors! Both teams head in to this game with a win streak under their belt so the competition was bound to be fierce. Warriors draw first blood with a goal 14 minutes in to the first period and keep the lead headed to the second. 1-0 after intermission and the Rhinos are looking for the opportunity to break away with the puck. Rhinos find themselves on a man advantage as the Warriors take a penalty and take a goal, tying up the game at 1-1 with just under 14 minutes to go in the second. London Kearney steals the lead back for the Warriors, taking his second goal of the night, but Ethan Woolcott keeps the game within arms reach, tying it once more. 2-2 now as we move in to the second and Diago Hotta scores just two minutes in to the third for the Rhinos’ first lead of the night. Oklahoma is determined to not let it end there, though and ties it back up for a third time midway through the period. We’re 3-3 with no scoring by the end of regulation time, throwing us in to overtime where neither team is able to make a dent. It all came down to the shootout where Kyle Sorensen took one for the Warriors and two failed attempts by the Rhinos cedes Game #1 to the Warriors for a 4-3 win.
Saturday: El Paso Rhinos 8 @ Oklahoma City Warriors 3 – The Warriors welcome the Rhinos to their home ice for puck drop tonight as puck drop commenced sharply at 7:00 PM local time. Rhinos are looking for revenge after last night’s close game and start us off tonight with back to back goals from Gaige Giblin & Nolan Smith within the first two minutes. Dominik Kiss places the first point on board for the Warriors with just under 13 minutes left in the first, but Brendan Murray brings it back for the Rhinos, setting the score at 3-1 with a little over nine minutes left in the first. With less than five minutes to go in the period Alexi Gregoire of the Rhinos and AJ Iwinski of the Warriors both get hit with roughine penalties and Grady Knutson gets Kneeing. In all three penalties are dished out and killed just as fast. Bronson Sabol earns himself a point as the clock ticks down to its final seconds in the first and we’d move in to the second period with a 3-2 Rhino lead.
Rhinos keep the momentum going and a few more penalties are dished out to both teams before Troy Hunka hits another goal for El Paso with 10:55 left in the period. Ian Kastamo follows it up with another of his own and Rhinos are now up 5-2 with no signs of slowing down. Oklahoma takes one last swing at it with Ben Likness scoring the Warriors their third goal of the night. With the Rhinos square in the lead the game’s pace kicks up as Greyson Settipane widens the gap with yet another goal for El Paso. Giblin & Kastamo each take one goal a piece, each taking their own personal second goals of the night. With that the Rhinos take a whopping 8-3 victory over the Warriors in Game #2, splitting the series.
