Brahmas lose in Hidalgo

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees earn second consecutive 5-2 win

The Texas Brahmas fell in a 5-2 match against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees at the Dodge Center in Hidalgo, Texas tonight. It was a good effort for the boys, but they were simply outplayed for the second game in a row against the Bees. With the loss, the Brahmas record goes to 6-7-2.

In front of a very sparse Friday night crowd (despite a stated attendance of 4,002), the two teams came out playing less than exciting hockey, at least until the last five minutes of the first frame.

The Brahmas were unable to capitalize on two power play opportunities early in the period but that was not the case for the Killer Bees who scored two power play goals in 44 seconds.

The first goal, after a hooking call on Ross Rouleau, was sent in by Jesse Bennefield at the 14:02 mark with the assist from Joel Irving and Nathan Ansell.

The second goal, after a tripping call on Elias Godoy, came when Grant Goeckner-Zoeller stole the puck from a Brahmas skater, skated up through the Brahmas zone unmolested and forced the rebound into a wide open net as Jaeger was on his knees after stopping the initial shot. At the 14:46 mark, the unassisted goal made it a 2-0 game.

The Brahmas answered at the 18:30 mark after Justin Kinnunen sent in a soft shot from the right circle and had it re-directed into the net by Grant Jacobsen to cut the Killer Bees lead in half.

Shots were even at 11 in the first period with the score at 2-1, Killer Bees.

The second period opened up with special teams scoring from both sides beginning with a shorthanded goal by Killer Bee Aaron Lee after teammate Daymen Rycroft was sent to the sin bin for tripping. Zak McClellan assisted on the goal which came at the 3:53 mark.

The Brahmas responded with seven seconds left on the power play when AJ Gale beat Wylie Rogers to make it a 3-2 game at the 5:23 mark. Luke Sellars was in on the assist.

The game was delayed shortly thereafter when a piece of glass needed to be re-inserted after it came loose following a hard check on a Brahmas player by Killer Bees defenseman Nathan Ansell.

There was no further scoring and the period came to a close with the Brahmas leading the shot count 11-7 and 22-18 after 40 minutes. Note: The Brahmas are 0-6 when trailing after two periods this season. The Killer Bees are 5-0 when leading after two. Those stats would hold true in the final period.

Aaron Lee scored his second goal of the game at the 3:53 mark off a set up by Zak McClellan and Sean Muncy. Less than a minute and a half later, Daymen Rycroft would score to make it a 5-2 game. Grant Goeckner-Zoeller and Andrew Schembri were credited with the assist.

It was everything the Brahmas could do to mitigate the impending loss for the remainder of the period as the Killer Bees continued their attack. Despite the score, Jaeger made some tremendous saves in the third period, especially in the final minutes.

James Hiebert and Jason Seery dropped the gloves at the 15:21 mark and both were sent off the ice early as a result. Both would receive five minute Fighting Majors and Hiebert would receive a two minute Fighting (Instigator) and a 10 minute Fighting (Instigator) Game Misconduct.

The Killer Bees would get a five-on-three opportunity shortly thereafter due to a hooking call on Grant Jacobsen but the Brahmas penalty killer would prevail and the game would end with the score remaining at 5-3.

The Killer Bees had a 12-5 shot advantage in the final frame and a 30-27 shot count for the game.

Brett Jaeger had 25 saves on 30 shots to take the loss. His record goes to 3-5-0. Wylie Rogers stopped 25 of 27 shots for the win. His record goes to 4-2-0.

The Brahmas went 1 for 6 on the power play. Rio went 2 for 6. The Brahmas were assessed 27 minutes on 8 infractions; Odessa received 17 minutes on 7 infractions.

The 3rd Star of the game went to Zak McClellan for an assist on the game-winning goal. The 2nd Star was awarded to Grant Goeckner-Zoeller who had a goal and and two assists and the 1st Star went to Aaron Lee who had two goals on the night.

You can view the box score here

Observations:

• Another loss following a big win as the Brahmas continue to struggle with consistency. They've only has two consecutive wins this season (October 30th against the Mudbugs and the 31st against the Americans). It was a good effort, but the boys were outplayed by the Bees for the second consecutive game. You've got to play hard for 60 minutes if you want to win the game.
• Discipline seems to be an issue for the Brahmas who were one of the least penalized teams in the league last season. Some of these fights are just unnecessary.

The Brahmas will travel to Laredo to take on the Bucks tomorrow night at the Laredo Entertainment Center.