Brahmas lose to the Amarillo Gorillas 4-3

Three goals in the third period fuel Amarillo comeback

In a physical contest, the Texas Brahmas watched a 2-1 lead slip away in the third period as the Amarillo Gorillas opened with the tying score and then went on to win the game 4-3 in regulation on Saturday night. With the road loss, the Brahmas record goes to 17-13-5 with 39 points. They remain in third place in the Southern Conference, nine points behind Allen and two points ahead of Laredo.

It took over half of the first period for the first score to be registered thanks to a Goaltender Interference call on Amarillo defenseman Andy Brennan. On their third power play opportunity, James Hiebert sent a pass from behind the Gorillas net to Mark Kolanos who sent the puck in past Tuomas Lohtander for his sixth goal of the season at the 13:48 mark.

It would be the only tally of the first frame in which the Gorillas led the shot count 11-6.

The Gorillas fought back in the second frame, when Joe Guenther snapped his shot from the high slot past Brett Jaeger at the 6:24 mark for his team-leading 16th goal of the season. Jason Beeman and Neil Smith were in on the assist.

The Brahmas would answer 80 seconds later, as AJ Gale notched his twelve goal of the season with the assist from Nathan Perrott, giving the Brahmas the 2-1 lead at the 7:44 mark.

Amarillo had the narrow 13-12 shot lead in the middle frame and after 40 minutes, led with a 24-18 count but went into the locker room down 2-1.

Things would change for Amarillo in the third period. A Hooking penalty on Nathan Perrott 43 seconds in led to a power play goal by defenseman Andy Brennan eight seconds later. Erik Felde and Joe Guenther were credited with the assist.

Chris Cloud took a feed from Gordon Bell at the 3:15 mark to give the Gorillas a 3-2 lead.

AJ Gale would tie the contest with his second goal of the game midway through the period with a forehand shot in close quarters at the 10:52 mark. Ross Rouleau and Todd Paul assisted.

With less than 5 minutes in regulation and on the power play due to a High Sticking call on Mark Kolanos, Amarillo forward Stuart MacRae tipped a Jake Obermeyer shot past Brett Jaeger, giving Amarillo the 4-3 lead.

Dan Wildfong pulled Jaeger in favor of the extra attacker with a minute left in the game but the Brahmas were unable to score and the game would end with the home team getting the win and the two points.

Brett Jaeger made 34 saves on 38 shots and took the loss. His record goes to 7-9-1. Tuomas Lohtander made 25 saves on 28 shots earned the win. His record goes to 6-4-2.

The Brahmas went one for six on the power play. Amarillo went two for six. The Brahmas were assessed 14 minutes on seven infractions; the Gorillas received 16 minutes on eight infractions.

The 3rd Star of the game went to AJ Gale who had two goals on the night. The 2nd Star was awarded to Amarillos Joe Guenther who had a goal and an assist and the 1st Star went to Stuart MacRae who scored the game-winning goal.

You can view the box score here

The Brahmas returned home to get some rest today and will begin preparing for a four game home stand beginning on Friday night against the Tulsa Oilers.