Texas Brahmas hand the New Mexico Scorpions another loss

Bulls win 4-1, move to second place in the Southeast Division

The Texas Brahmas dominated the New Mexico Scorpions Saturday night, defeating them handily and winning their third game in a row in front of a home crowd at the NYTEX Sports Centre.

The Scorpions opened up the scoring in the first period after fending off two Brahmas powerplay opportunities. Scorpions forward Mike McDonald worked through several Brahmas defenders and was able to make a pass to center Jamie Herrington who was able to slap the puck past David Cacciola at the 12:56 mark.

Just 50 seconds later, the Brahmas capitalized on a tripping call on Aaron MacInnis when Pete Rouleau tipped in a shot, scoring his fourth powerplay goal of the season with the assist from Mike Vellinga and Jordan Cameron. Less than two minutes later, Cameron scored an even-strength wrap-around goal, his second goal in as many nights, with credit to Pete Rouleau and Mike Vellinga on the assist.

The Brahmas went without a penalty call and outshot the Scorpions 17-6 in the first period.

Defensive play ruled the second period until the Brahmas' Grant Jacobsen took advantage of a powerplay opportunity and flicked a shot past Scorpions netminder Andrew Martin at the 15:21 mark to give the bulls a 3-1 lead. The Brahmas outshot the Scorpions again in the second; this time 11-9.

The Brahmas sealed the win in the third period when Jacobsen got free in the neutral zone and was able to tuck the puck just under the crossbar. It was his fifth goal in nine games. Despite being outshot 11-5 in the period, the Brahmas held on to their lead and the game ended with the bulls on top with a final score of 4-1.

David Cacciola stopped 25 of 26 shots for the victory, improving his record to 2-2-0.

New Mexico failed to convert on four powerplay opportunities. The Brahmas went two for eight. The Brahmas improved to second in the league (behind the Colorado Eagles) with a 22.83 powerplay percentage.

The Brahmas went 30:05 minutes before getting their first penalty and were only called for 12 minutes on 6 infractions. The bulls have the second lowest penalty minute total in the league at 220 (Rio Grande Valley has 200).

Forward Pete Rouleau is tied for fifth in the league for scoring by rookies with 13 points after his performance tonight with one goal and two assists. He also leads the Brahmas in points scored.

The third star went to Grant Jacobsen who had two goals. The second star went to Pete Rouleau who had a goal and two assists and the first star went to Jordan Cameron who had a goal and an assist for a total of three points in two nights.

The Brahmas improve to 7-3-1 with 15 points and move to second place in the Southeast Division behind the Bucks. Only Laredo has a better home record at 6-2-0. The Brahmas are tied with the Colorado Eagles and the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs at 5-1-0.

You can view the box score here

The Brahmas next game is on Friday. They will play the 4-7-1 Wichita Thunder for the first time this season at the Britt Brown Arena in Valley Center Kansas.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith