WICHITA FALLS, TX- The Wichita Falls Warriors (3-0) defeat the Lone Star Brahmas (0-3) in Game 3 by a score of 4-2. In their first ever playoff series the Warriors sweep the Brahmas to advance to the second round of the Robertson Cup Playoffs.
In the first period, the crowd was loud early and often from the Kay Yeager Coliseum and both teams had come to play. 12 shots for the Warriors in the first and 9 shots for the Brahmas, it was Graham Burke’s first game in net for Lone Star as both teams would be scoreless through the first 20 minutes. No penalties would be taken in the first period either. A fairly physical but clean period would come to an end.
The second period would start with a bang. Just one minute into the period Thomas Weis (2) would put the Warriors up 1-0 on a beautiful deflection goal out in front of the net. 39 seconds later Captain Jackson Wozniak (1) would give the Warriors a 2-0 lead over the Brahmas as the Warriors were quickly up and running in Game 3. There would be four total penalties taken in the middle period but neither team would be able to capitalize on the man advantage. With less than three minutes to go Quinn Emerson would tally his first goal of the playoffs and silence the Warrior faithful, as the score would now be 2-1. The score would stay 2-1 after 40 minutes of play as the Warriors were just 20 minutes away from advancing to the next round.
The final 20 minutes of play would be intense. Three minutes into the third period Drew Vieten (3) would put the Warriors up 3-1 and they would have their first two goal lead of the game. Five minutes later Zach Purcell (2) would cut the Warriors lead to one as the score would now be 3-2 in favor of the Warriors. The intensity started to rise and anticipation started to tremble as there was not much time left in the game. Lone Star was putting offensive pressure on late in the period but goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz would stand tall and shut down the Brahmas. With less than a minute to go the Brahmas season was on the line as they put on the extra attacker. Captain Brennan Couet (1) would hammer home the empty net for the 4-2 Warriors lead and the nail in the coffin to solidify the Warriors series sweep over the Brahmas.
Owen Bartoszkiewicz (3-0) would get the win and make 16 saves on 18 shots. Graham Burke (0-1) would get the loss and make 23 saves on 27 shots.
The Wichita Falls Warriors have advanced to round two of the Robertson Cup Playoffs, as they will face the Shreveport Mudbugs this weekend June 4th and June 5th.
