Tri-City Americans Drop Season Opener 6-3 to Seattle Thunderbirds
KENT, WA – The Tri-City Americans (0-1-0-0) found themselves down 4-1 early to the Seattle Thunderbirds (1-0-0-0) and couldn’t recover, ultimately losing 6-3 in their season opener on Saturday night. 
Seattle struck quickly, with Simon Lovsin scoring just 31 seconds into the game after receiving a pass from behind the net and firing it past Ryan Grout. Tri-City answered back shortly after, with Dylan LeBret scoring on the power play, sending a shot past Marek Sklenicka to tie the game at 2:28.
However, a rapid sequence of three goals from Seattle in just 1:53 changed the course of the game. Lovsin added his second goal after a dump-in bounced off Grout’s glove and left the puck sitting in the crease for him to tap in. Antonio Martorana followed up with a power-play goal, lifting a loose puck over Grout’s pad. Less than a minute later, Sawyer Mayes capitalized on a turnover and scored on a breakaway to make it 4-1, which ended Grout’s night. Xavier Wendt replaced him in net.
Tri-City fought back in the second period. Jakub Vanecek scored his first WHL goal, firing through Sklenicka’s pads to make it 4-2. Just 40 seconds later, Jesse McKinnon finished off a give-and-go with Jake Gudelj to score his first WHL goal, pulling the Americans within one at 4-3.
The score stayed 4-3 going into the third, as Tri-City outshot Seattle 12-5 in the second period. Despite their continued pressure in the third, Tri-City couldn’t tie it, as Sklenicka stood firm in net. Late in the game, Brock England sealed the win for Seattle, scoring off a blocked shot to make it 5-3. England then added an empty-net goal from his own blue line, bringing the final score to 6-3.
The Americans will be back in action next Saturday when they face the Spokane Chiefs (1-1-0-0).
Tri-City Americans head coach Jody Hull reflected on his team’s performance after they fell behind 4-1 early in their season opener against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Despite the rough start, Hull emphasized staying positive and making necessary adjustments.
“It’s tough to fall behind early, especially in a game like this where we wanted to set the tone,” said Hull. “We can’t let it spiral. We gave up too many chances and didn’t clear the puck effectively. Seattle made us pay for that, and we need to do a better job managing the game.”
Hull noted Seattle’s strong start and special teams play. “They came out with a lot of energy, and we weren’t quite prepared for that. We got caught up in the back-and-forth and lost our focus, and that’s something we need to clean up.”
Despite the first-period struggles, Hull was encouraged by his team’s response in the second. “We started to show some life toward the end of the second period, which was good to see. We just need to play a complete 60 minutes. We have things to fix, and we’ll get better.”
Looking ahead, Hull remained optimistic. “It’s just one game. We’ll learn from it, focus on the details, and move forward. We have a lot of hockey left to play.”
The Americans are ready to regroup and make the necessary adjustments as they prepare for a challenging season ahead.
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