Texas Brahmas beat Mudbugs in Shootout thriller

Win gives the bulls lead in Southeast Division

The Texas Brahmas defeated the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs 2-1 on Wednesday night in a their first shootout of the season. The win gives the Brahmas a 10-4-1 record, but more importantly, the two points needed to overtake the Laredo Bucks for first place in the Southeast Division.

The opening period saw a lot of action but both Kenny Carroll and David Cacciola were solid. There were a few scoring chances both ways, but neither team cracked the scoreboard and for the first time this season, the Mudbugs were held to a scoreless first period. The Brahmas outshot the Mudbugs 11-8.

In the second period, play became more physical and although the officiating was terrible, several players went to the penalty box. The Brahmas had five powerplay chances, including a 50 second two-man advantage , but the Mudbugs penalty killers managed to keep them off the scoreboard. The Mudbugs had the shot advantage at 12-8 but could not solve Cacciola.

The Brahmas broke the deadlock early in the third period when Jason Deitsch put the rebound of a Scott Sheppard shot past Kenny Carroll to make it 1-0 at the 2:36 mark. Grant Jacobsen was also credited with the assist. It was Deitsch's 10th point in five games.

The Mudbugs finally scored on the man-advantage after being held by the Brahmas penalty killers in the previous five opportunities. Todd Paul fired a slapshot from the point with Neil Clark and Brett Smith crashing the front. Cacciola stopped Clark but not Smith, who backhanded home his sixth goal of the year to tie the game at one with just 5:05 remaining. The Mudbugs had the shot advantage again at 18-6 but Cacciola was able to hold the Bugs to one score.

With stellar goaltending on both sides, the game was forced into overtime. The Mudbugs outshot the Brahmas 4-1 , but neither team could score and the game went to a shootout, the first for the Brahmas this season.

Jason Deitsch scored as the Brahmas' first shooter to put the Brahmas up 1-0. The next six combined shooters for both teams would miss before Simon Mangos tied the shootout at one as The Bugs’ fourth shooter. Pete Rouleau then beat Carroll stick side and Smith missed as the last shooter to give the Brahmas the 2-1 shootout win.

David Cacciola stopped 41 of 42 shots and earned the win to improve to 3-3 for the season.

Jason Deitsch received the third star for his third period goal. David Cacciola received the second star for his remarkable goaltending performance and Pete Rouleau received the first star for his game-winning goal.

You can view the box score here

You can view photos from the game here

The Brahmas are now 7-1-0 at NYTEX and will host the 13-1-2 Oklahoma City Blazers on Friday night. All military personnel, active and retired will receive half-priced tickets at the Brahmas Box Office for the conclusion of "NYTEX Honors Military Night". Following the game will be a live game-worn jersey auction for the fans.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith