David Dudich – Texas Tornado Booster Club: Texas Tornado rookie forward Scott Conway had a Hat Trick in the Tornado 8-1 drubbing of the Topeka Roadrunners to clinch the first round NAHL South Division Playoff.

The Tornado got things off on the right foot at 4:56 when Alexey Soloviev pinched to keep a puck in at the far point. Soloviev gave it to Scott Conway at the half-wall and he curled it to the high slot before ripping a wrister over Spencer Viele’s left shoulder. Conway would return the favor to Soloviev on the Tornado’s second goal when he sent it from deep in the far corner to Soloviev at the far point for a slapshot that went between Jackson Leef’s legs as he set the screen in front. The puck was in the back of the net before Viele ever saw it. Time of the goal was 8:25.

Less than 30 seconds into the second Justin Greenberg and Max Shuart had a two on one. Greenberg gave the puck to Shuart down the left side for a shot that made its way through Viele, but the goal was disallowed because Viele had kicked the net off. With just 42.1 seconds left in the second Drew Mayer grabbed a loose puck at the bottom of the far circle and hit Conway with a breakout pass in front of the Tornado bench. Conway went in all alone on Viele and totally undressed the Topeka netminder as he faked the backhand to get Viele to drop then went forehand over Viele sprawled on the ice.

Texas added to their lead in the third when Nick Neville sprung CJ Reuschlein down the far side. Reuschlein drove the far post then saucered a pass to Jason Eddy who had joined the rush. Viele got a piece of it but it snuck between his left arm and body for the goal at 5:38. Another Tornado breakaway resulted in Leef flying into the zone unimpeded to send a laser over Viele’s left shoulder.

Topeka finally got on the board at 10:28 on a scramble in front of Hunter Leisner. Juraj Kucirko got the goal with assists credited to Kevin Patterson and Trace Strahle. Replays showed that the real assist should have gone to Jake Kamrassas he went through the crease and knocked Leisner off his feet leaving an open net.

David Dudich – Texas Tornado Booster Club: Jackson Leef and the rest of the Texas Tornado skaters were in Spencer Viele’s kitchen all night long in the 8-1 Tornado victory.

Any idea Topeka had of a comeback was quickly squelched as Mayer sent the puck to Shuart below the goal line. Shuart cycle the puck behind the net to Greenberg who skated out and snuck it between Viele and the far post. The Greenberg goal came just 31 seconds after the Topeka had scored. Nick Blase added to Topeka’s missery at 17:24 on the power play with a blast from the far point. Reuschlein and Soloviev got the assists. At 19:03 the Roadrunners reverted to their standard M.O. when they have been soundly paddled. Patterson took a run at Reuschlein and leveled him with an elbow from the blind side away from the play. Patterson then immediately sought refuge behind the linesman as several of the players paired off and locked up. Eddy who was trying to get to Patterson was pulled down by the Linesman as he approached Anthony Mousseau and Viele who were locked up along the end boards. Tough guy Kyle Sharkey tried to take advantage of Eddy being on his knees and fired a right which missed badly. Eddy jumped to his feet got Sharkey bent over and landed a huge right upper cut that dropped Sharkey face first on the ice where he  immediately turtled. With just 13 seconds left Conway added insult to injury with another power play goal for the hat trick. Soloviev and Mitch Muellerlogged the assists.

The shots on goal battle was about the only thing the Roadrunners managed to win on the night out shooting Texas 32-31. The Tornado had the only power play goals on the evening going 2-5 while Topeka was 0-2. Hunter Leisner turned aside 90 of the 93 shots he faced in the three game series. Scott Conway (4G-1A) led the Tornado scoring punch. Alexey Soloviev (1G-4A) also had five points in the series. CJ Reuschlein (2G-2A) joined Conway as the only Tornado with multiple goals scored.

Head Coach Tony Curtale was pleased with the performance of his club in the series.

What I like about our team is that we had a bad period in the first period in Topeka and we got better every period since then. I think that is important in the playoffs.

The Texas Tornado will now move on to face the Amarillo Bulls in the NAHL South Division Finals. The schedule for the series has yet to be announced.

Texas Tornado Booster Club – Texas Tornado defensemen Nick Neville, Nick Blasé and forward Jason Eddy deny Topeka’s Kyle Sharkey a path to goaltender Hunter Leisner in Texas’ 2-1 game two win.

In the two games in Topeka, Tornado goal tender Hunter Leisner has resembled the goalie who led Texas to the Robertson Cup National Championship last season. Leisner is 2-0-0 with a 1.00GAA and .967SV%. The play of the blueliners has been equally impressive with defensemen clearing rebounds to the boards and giving up the body to block shots. Texas has been outshot in both games, but second chance opportunities have been few and far between. Offensively the Tornado have been led by CJ Reuschlein (2G-0A) who has goals in both contests. Joining Reuschlein with two points each are Max Shuart (1G-1A) and Jason Eddy (0G-2A). The other Tornado to register points in Topeka are Scott Conway (1G-0A) and Alexey Soloviev (0G-1A).

Kyle Sharkey (1G-1A) and Tyler Andrew (1G-1A) are the multi point scorers for the Roadrunners while Kevin Patterson and Sean Gaffney have each contributed an assist. Roadrunners goaltender Spencer Viele must be feeling snake bit against the Tornado in the post season. In four games including last season’s Robertson Cup Tournament games when he backstopped the St Louis Bandits, Viele has a 2.43GAA and a .910SV% against Texas. However, Viele has only a single overtime win and suffered an overtime defeat in the National Championship Final when Justin Greenberg put a rebound in the back of the net.

Special teams play has been as tight as the scores in this series with Topeka converting on one of six power play opportunities while the Tornado are scoreless in seven power plays.

The Texas Tornado will definitely have the advantage returning home knowing they need only one win in the next three games. Behind the bench they have the winningest coach in NAHL history in Tony Curtale. Curtale has a total of seven Robertson Cup Championships on his resume, five with the Tornado during their 12 years in the league. Seven players on the Tornado roster have a ring from last season’s Robertson Cup National Championship team so they have big game experience.

The Roadrunners on the other hand will come into Frisco with their backs against the wall. Topeka has been close several times recently and came up just short. Topeka won the South Division in 2009/10 and made it to the Division Finals only to lose to St Louis in five games. After winning the regular season crown in 2010/11 the Roadrunners made it into the Robertson Cup Tournament, but lost all three games. Last season Topeka once again made it as far as the Divisional Finals before losing to Amarillo in four games.  While Topeka has a talented team they will have to exercise the ghosts of past playoffs and resurrect their regular season play against Texas if they stand a chance of facing Amarillo.