Wings Win 9-3, Improve To 5-0 On The Season

Park City, KS (January 12, 2020) – On a long road trip to Wichita, the New Mexico Runners fall to the Wichita Wings 9-3 at Hartman Arena on Sunday evening.

The battle between both teams was going to be a tough one with 2nd place in the league on the line for the Runners, and should the Wings win they would force a tie for first. This match was one that would showcase an unbeaten and confident Wings team. 

It would be the Wings to score first about halfway into the first quarter off a free kick when Bryan Perez played a ball across goal to Colin Lawter who scored his first of three on the night. 

The Wings would continue to press the Runners and eventually see David Lucio score another to close out the 1st quarter leading 2-0. 

New Mexico’s defense worked to keep Wichita at bay for about 3 minutes where the Wings took a 3-0 lead. Midfielder Jacob Gandarilla would move quickly to set up Miguel Avila to cut the Wings lead down 4-1 on a power play with 6:30 remaining in the quarter. In just under a minute Midfielder Edward Oropesa clipped in a chip shot to cut the Wichita league 4-2. The Wings would except the challenge and put on 2 more to close out the half 6-2.

Quarter 3 was all Wings as they pushed the gas to challenge the Runners’ midfield by scoring 2 more. Midfielder Justin White set up Forward Miguel Garcia with a beautiful shot to the back of the net to slow down the Wichita press. The 3rd quarter would end at 9-3 with the Wings leading.

The 4th quarter would be a defensive one as the Runners would step up to stop the pressure from Wichita. No goals were scored any team and the game would end by a score of 9-3.

The Wings are back in action this Saturday and Sunday at Hartman Arena in a weekend double-header against the Chihuahua Savage. "We've got two unbeaten teams fighting for first place early in the year," said Wings owner Blake Shumaker. "Chihuahua are the reigning back-to-back champions in Mexico and have carried that momentum into the MASL. They are the favorite to win the league so we're looking to the orange army to be the difference for us."

The Wichita Wings are encouraging everyone to plan to get their tickets early and pack the house on Saturday for a game that could see Wichita take control of the league table. 

Saturday's kickoff is at 7:00 PM CST on Saturday January 18th. Tickets can be purchased online at Ticketmaster or without fees at the Hartman Arena box office.