The Cheyenne Stampede had a successful road trip, taking all six points in their first away series of the season, against the New Mexico Renegades over Nov. 2-4.
The Stampede won Friday night’s game in a shootout 3-2 and followed it up with a powerhouse performance on Saturday night, winning 9-3 before coming back strong again Sunday morning in a 4-1 win.
The Cheyenne Stampede started the weekend after a long bus ride to Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The Renegades got on the board early in the first period on a powerplay goal. The Renegades banked again early in the second to have the two goal advantage. Midway through the period though, the Stampede struck, with a goal coming from Kevin Rosset assisted by Noah Eckebrecht. The Stampede continued to unleash shot after shot on the New Mexico goaltender, amounting 44 shots throughout the game. Midway in the third period, on a powerplay, Kevin Rosset tied the game for his second goal of the night. The goal was assisted by Ian Johnson and Noah Eckebrecht. The game went into overtime, but to no avail, as the game had to be decided in a shootout. Through 5 rounds of shooters, the Stampede emerged on top with goals coming from Noah Eckebrecht, Ryan Demyen, and Russell Armbruster, while goaltender Daniel Cepila stood tall in net to give the Stampede the 3-2 victory.
Game two of the series took place on Saturday Nov. 3, in which the Stampede offense put on a clinic, blasting 54 shots on goal, and netting nine of them. New Mexico struck first, within the first minute of the opening period, only to see Ryan Carroll tie the game off an assist from Dorran Masters and Josh Greenaker. The Renegades scored again in the first, but the Stampede answered back with three more goals in the first period. Trevor Zakrajesk, Russell Armbruster, and Dario Trupina all netted goals in the first period. The second period continued to showcase the Stampede offense as Noah Eckebrecht scored the lone goal of the second period. Eckebrecht found the back of the net again early in the third period. The Renegades found a little offense as they got their third goal, but the Stampede answered with another three goals, this time from Ryan Demyen, Alex Johansons, and Thayne Trumbull.
Game three of the series took place Sunday Nov. 4, and saw the Stampede again show up big. Kevin Rosset and Noah Eckebrecht teamed up again to net the first goal, as Rosset again found the back of the net at the midpoint of the first period. Josh Greenaker had an assist on Thayne Trumbull’s second period goal to give the Stampede the 2-0 lead. New Mexico managed one goal in the game, but it was to no avail as the Stampede saw Heath Lantz score late in the second off assists from Ryan Demyen and Dario Trupina. Ryan Carroll finished off the scoring at the ten minute mark in the third. Tyler Elkins had the assist on the goal.
General manager Mark Lantz commented on the weekend, specifically on Saturday night’s performance, saying “The team was very businesslike; they came to get their job done.” He went on to say how important road wins are, and that they will play a large part in the conference standings. The Stampede will return home for their military appreciation weekend on Nov. 9-11. They will host the Texas Brahmas, with puck drop at 7:30 Friday night.
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Story by Matthew Humphrey, Stampede Beat Writer