Texas Rebounds in a big way against Oklahoma 10-2

After getting stunned 5-3 back on Friday Night, the Tornado looked like a team that is looking to get back to the NAHL South Division Championship and to the Robertson Cup where after getting off 55 shots on Friday, the team got off 40, but the difference was that the Tornado were able to figure out an OU Goalie that was part of a big upset the night before.

The other big difference were that some of the big name players including Jack Prince, Rock Einersen and David Rigatti all had big nights as well as the Tornado were able to get off 10 goals, a feat that the Tornado weren't able to do at all in the 2009-2010 season last year.

Press Release from the Texas Tornado

Saturday's Action was much more active from the get go. With their top players in the line up, the Tornado struck first on the power play just 3:33 into the game as Jack Prince blasted home a shot from the high slot with assists to Rock Einersen and David Rigatti. The Tornado would quickly make it 2-0 just a minute later as Mike Fleming picked up a rebound of Sooner Goaltender Wil Landa and put it home with assists to Alec Thieda and Marc Biggs. Three minutes later the Tornado made it 3-0, as the Sooners turned the puck over to Jack Prince who slid a shot between the legs of Landa for a commanding three goal lead. However, it would only take the Sooners 23 seconds to net their first goal of the night on a 2-on-1 goal by Taylor Paziuk over the shoulder of Tornado goaltender Jake Stafford made it 3-1 Tornado. The Tornado would strike again for a 4-1 lead as David Rigatti would tip home a low slot pass from Jack Prince with another helper to Rock Einersen. With 1:27 left in the period, the Sooners would draw within two as a Tornado defensive breakdown led to an OU two-on-none. It would be Paziuk who converted for his 2nd of the night after some nifty passing with Chris Nicolaou to make it 4-2 Tornado. Shots in the first period were 17-7 in favor of the Tornado.

The 2nd period was all Tornado. Not only did they out-shoot the Sooners 13-4 in the period, but they scored four more goals to take a commanding 8-2 lead. Tyler Mort began the period in style as he fired home a wrist shot from the left circle after a nice pass from Taylor Hendon to make it 5-2 Tornado. The Tornado made it 6-2 as Michael Zagari received a perfect pass from the corner from Tyler Rostenkowski to slip a shot past a helpless Wil Landa to increase the lead to four. The lead stretched to five as Rock Einersen scored perhaps the prettiest goal of the night as he picked up a loose puck in his own end, raced down the right wing and fired a wrist shot over the glove of Landa for a 7-2 lead. Tornado goaltender Jake Stafford picked up an assist on the play after making a save to start an end-to-end rush. With just 1:35 left in the 2nd frame, Tyler Rostenkowski bombed a slapshot from 45 feet that scorched the back of the net for an 8-2 Tornado lead heading into the 2nd intermission.

The first half of the 3rd period failed to generate much offense, as both only managed two shots each through the first 11 minutes. The Tornado would add to their lead as after a Sooner penalty a faceoff would be won back to the defensemen Donald Olivieri, who slapped home a bomb from the blueline to make it 9-2 Tornado. The Tornado would finish the game the way it started, with another goal, this time from Axel Boyer, who converted on a pretty wrap around attempt after some hard work to keep the puck in the zone by linemate Taylor Herndon. Jake Stafford made the safe lead stand the rest of the night making a total of 18 saves on 20 Sooner Shots. His counterpart Wil Landa made 30 saves on 40 Tornado shots.

Head Coach Tony Curtale summed up with the exhibition weekend with OU in the following words. "I thought we did a lot of good things offensively. With 95 shots in two games, we showed we could generate offense. I thought our power play was good on Friday, but just didn't convert. Saturday was much better on both accounts and the guys are still learning, but I think the confidence is there. We also did a good job of puck support with all five guys on the ice knowing their positions, which is good to see this early in the season."