LOVELAND, Colo. - The Amarillo Gorillas got their first ever win in regulation at the Budweiser Events Center, 5-3, behind 48 saves by Mike Gorman and several post-hitting pucks. The Gorillas rode a strong second period and withstood a 21-shot, third period barrage from the Eagles in their surprising victory.
Amarillo would strike first, at 14:44, when Jason Weitzel deflected a Michael Handza shot over Morgan Cey's left shoulder as he skated through the low slot. But Colorado answered less than a minute later with a deflection from in front of their own as Konrad Reeder got his 13th point in the past 10 games. Stationed at the right post, Reeder was able to tip Ed McGrane's shot from the right mid-boards over Mike Gorman's shoulder to tie the score at 1.
The Gorillas got three goals and some great goaltending in the second, and took a 4-1 lead into the third period as a result. Stuart MacRae made it 2-1 with a goal at 7:14 when he circled behind the Colorado net with the puck and neither defender picked him up, allowing him to skate unattended into the left circle where he snapped a goal past Cey. Joe Guenther made it 3-1 with a power-play marker at 9:17 when John Snowden's rebound came right to him at the goal line to the right of the Colorado cage.
Gorman kept the momentum going in the Gorillas' favor a minute later when he robbed Reeder of his second goal of the game; the Amarillo netminder was down-and-seemingly-out, but was able to stop Reeder's shot from low in the right circle. Lady luck then came to Amarillo's aid when Aaron Schneekloth's rocket shot from the point clanged off the left post and under Gorman. The goal light went on, but the goal was quickly waived off. Gorman came up big again at the five and a half minute mark, stonewalling Adam Hogg on a chance from in front.
Jake Morissette scored Amarillo's third goal of the second period when he converted on a 3-on-1 rush at 17:50 off a pass from Austin Sutter. Gorman continued his strong play with just under a minute remaining in the frame when he somehow sealed off the goal line during an extended scrum in the paint. And as a symbol of how the period was going for Colorado, they had their second goal of the period waived off with just 34 seconds left when Jason Beatty's blast was nullified by a delayed penalty along the left wing boards a split second earlier.
The Eagles came out flying in the final frame and Reeder was again at the center of it. The spark plug of a forward earned a penalty shot just 34 seconds in after he was hauled down on a short-handed breakaway, but Gorman blockered aside his patented drag move to keep it 4-1. Then at 15:45, while working a 5-on-3 power play, Riley Nelson hit another post with a shot from the left goal line, but Ryan Tobler was able to convert moments later for his league-leading 11th power-play goal (nine of which have come at home).
Colorado kept the pressure on, and nearly closed the scoring gap further, but bad bounces kept sabotaging their efforts. Aaron Schneekloth had a golden chance in front at 12:30, but his backhanded shot was blocked by the lunging face of Nate Hagemo in the crease. Reeder got his second goal at 10:33 when he tapped in a McGrane point shot that had trickled through Gorman's pads. The third period shots at that point were 11-1 in favor of the Eagles.
The storyline stayed the same, however, and the Eagles would hit two more posts before the period ended -- one by Kevin Ulanski and the other by Reeder -- and MacRae would add his second goal of the game at 15:20 after a bad bounce behind the Eagles' net had the puck lying on his tape alone in the low slot.
The Eagles will take on the defending champion Arizona Sundogs on Saturday night in a President's Cup Finals rematch.

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