Friday: New Mexico Ice Wolves 4 @ El Paso Rhinos 2 – With the season winding down the Ice Wolves pay us a visit here in Rhino Country for the first of two games! Defense holds on both sides give us a scoreless first period headed in to the second. Jacob Solano makes it 1-0 Rhinos by halfway through the first period. Ice Wolves hold this deficit for the next eight minutes where two back-to-back goals from Johnny Johannson and Sean Smith steal the lead. After one last intermission Rhinos & Ice Wolves return to the ice for the start of the third period. Nayan Pai and Stanley Hubbard take another pair of goals for the Ice Wolves early in the period, creating a wider gap in score. With one last goal from Roope Tuomioska, the Rhinos just barely cut the Ice Wolves’ lead in half. New Mexico takes Game #1 with a 4-2 lead.
Saturday: New Mexico Ice Wolves 0 @ El Paso Rhinos 2 – Back on the ice for Game #2 the Rhinos aim to split the series. Kyle Arias starts us off tonight at just under eight minutes in the first for a 1-0 lead. With no scoring for the remainder of the first and second, we’d head to the third period maintaining this lead. Arias takes one more last minute goal to make it 2-0, and Logan Hughes’ phenomenal defensive performance means Rhinos go home with a 2-0 win.
