MARLBOROUGH, MA -- The El Paso Rhinos beat the Dubuque Thunderbirds, 3-1, for their second victory at the Junior A Tier III National Championship Tournament.
Despite finishing second in the Third Division to the New Hampshire Monarchs with a 2-1-0 record, El Paso will not advance to the semifinals.
An 11-4 loss to the Monarchs in the Rhinos first game gave El Paso a total goal differential of minus-4 after three games (the loss to New Hampshire, a 5-4 win over Minnesota and the 3-1 win over Dubuque).
Goal differential is the first tie-breaker for teams with equal records, thus, ironically, the team that finished second to the Rhinos in the Western States Hockey League, the Phoenix Polar Bears, will be the wild card, also at 2-1-0.
Nonetheless, El Paso comported themselves well in its second trip to nationals. After winning only one game in the 2007 tournament the Rhinos won two this year.
The victory over Dubuque is another notch in El Paso's belt. The Thunderbirds are perhaps the most tradition-rich program at their level of hockey, and one of the most well-supported. The Rhinos and Dubuque clearly enjoy the two most passionate fan bases in the game at Junior A Tier III, averaging roughly the same number of fans.
El Paso head coach Cory Herman also got his 101st win in just 116 games.
The Rhinos scored a goal in each period Thursday, as Eric LaBounty opened the scoring on the power play in the first period, his 10th goal of the postseason.
Billy Krueger notched his 10th in the second period, followed by Marcus Wilhite with the clincher in the third.
El Paso wraps up its season with 56 wins, two losses and two shootout losses in league play.