Schempp Scores Twice, Steelheads Start Week with 4-1 Win Over Wichita

BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho Steelheads (35-20-4) built up their lead over the course of the night, taking down the Wichita Thunder (22-28-9) with a 4-1 win on Wednesday night from CenturyLink Arena.

The Steelheads were slow out of the gates for offensive possession, but one sequence nearly midway through the frame sparked that side to life. At 9:11, Steelheads forward Kyle Schempp batted in a rebound off his own deflected shot coming from the blue line, stringing together the first three shots for the Steelheads and the 1-0 lead.

In the second period, Schempp continued his strong offensive night with another tally at around the same time. This time, it was a blue line shot by defenseman Keegan Kanzig that was deflected by Schempp in the left circle at 9:05, doubling the lead to 2-0. Steelheads defenseman Nolan Gluchowski added another tally on the power play at 12:28 with a shot from the blue line at 12:28 to triple the lead to 3-0.

The Thunder broke the shutout bid at 1:06 of the third period with a shot by defenseman Keoni Texeira on the power play to cut into the lead, 3-1. However, the Steelheads held strong defensively and added the final tally at 19:59 with an empty net goal by defenseman Charlie Dodero to seal the 4-1 win.

Steelheads goaltender Tomas Sholl (21-10-0) saved 33 of 34 shots in the win, while Thunder netminder Dylan Wells (10-5-2) saved 20 of 23 shots in the loss.

The Steelheads open Pink in the Rink weekend on Friday, Mar. 8 at 7:10 p.m. from CenturyLink Arena to continue the weekend against the Thunder. Tickets are available by calling 208-383-0080 or going online to idahosteelheads.com. Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on 1350 KTIK “The Ticket” and at 7:00 p.m. on Cable One Ch. 72 and ECHL.TV.

Single-game tickets and season ticket packages are on sale, with full-season packages starting as low as $300 per seat. Contact the Idaho Steelheads at 208-383-0080 for more information or log on to idahosteelheads.com.