Saturday evening the Renegades played the Tier II New Mexico Mustangs. The final score was 6-0, but the Renegades dominated a portion of the game. The Renegades outshot the Mustangs 8-2 in the first ten minutes of play and Anthony "Little Z" Zarella had a solid fight. The score does not indicate the quality of the game, as three goals were score on the powerplay. Goaltender Brandon Loera was solid in net as he made 40 saves.
The Renegades got to sleep quickly because they had an 11 AM game against the UNM Ice Wolves. The Renegades started out sluggish, and UNM capitalized on the opportunity. Goals came from Chris Thirion, Spencer Archer and Garrett Phillips.
The Renegades were down 2-1 after the first half, then 3-1, but fought back to 4-3. After killing a 5-on-3 the Renegades just could not find the equalizer. Andrew Blair, Goaltender Coach Kevin Blair's son and an NCAA transfer, was in net for UNM and stole the game.
Veteran Matt Pipkins said "Overall, a great start to the season. Even though it was 2 losses it was great to see us clicking already. The intensity level and work ethic is very high"Superfan and Billet Coordinator Rob Vitek said, "I think what was the most important aspect of the game was having an opportunity to get some game play in for the Mustangs after a long 5 weeks of practice. It will do nothing but help them. A Thanks should go out to all the Renegades Staff and players for stepping up and playing the Mustangs with 4 days of practice under them, thats guts! Also, thanks should go to the Mustangs Players and organization for giving us the opportunity to play them."
