Rough night for Sundogs head coach Marco Pietroniro

Brahmas defeat Sundogs 2-1

Howarth scores first professional goal

The Texas Brahmas won the first of three games against the Arizona Sundogs tonight at Tim's Toyota Center by a score of 2-1. The win is the Brahmas fifth in a row, improving their record to 6-4-0 (2-2-0 on the road). It was the fifth loss in a row for the Sundogs, who go to 2-6-3.

Kyle Howarth tallied his first professional goal and Jordan Kary scored the game-winner during the unusually uneventful contest (considering the Brahmas history in Prescott Valley). Mark Guggenberger stopped 30 of 31 shots faced and earned his third professional win. Guggenberger is now ranked first in the league with a 1.67 GAA and a .944 Save Percentage.

The Brahmas had a short bench with Jim Burichin and Chad Woollard not playing tonight.

Howarth opened up the scoring with a slap shot from the left circle at the 8:32 mark of the opening frame for his first of the season, giving the Brahmas a 1-0 Texas lead. Cal Wild and Brendon Hodge were credited with the assists.

It was the only score of the first 20 minutes. The Brahmas had a 12-7 shot advantage entering the first break. Arizona was called for two Slashing calls but the Brahmas were unable to convert.

Erik Spady was assessed two minutes for Tripping at the 1:31 mark of the second period which led to Arizona's only score nine seconds later. Luke Erickson tapped in a rebound from the front of the crease while Mark Guggenberger struggled to get in position to make the stop. Tyler Butler and Kyle Hood assisted.

The Brahmas were called twice more in the period (Lackner/High Sticking, P. Fox/Hooking) but their penalty killers prevented another score. In fact, Jordan Kary scored the game-winner, short-handed, 53 seconds into the third Arizona power play, assisted by T.J. Fox. The Brahmas had a 11-10 shot advantage and took the 2-1 lead into the second intermission.

There was no further scoring and the third period, which included two power plays for Arizona and one for the Brahmas. The Sundogs out shot the visitors 14-8 in the final frame to even the shots in the game at 31 apiece.

Referee: Peter Tarnaris
Linesmen: Kyle DeMaggio, Chris Zorza

Mark Guggenberger stopped 30 of 31 shots faced and earned his third consecutive win, moving to 3-0-0. Levente Szuper stopped 29 of 31 shots and takes the loss. His record goes to 0-4-1.

The Brahmas went 0 for 3 on the power play; the Sundogs went 1 for 5. Texas was assessed 10 minutes on five infractions. Arizona was assessed six minutes on three infractions.

1st Star: Jordan Kary - 2 Points (1 G, 1 A, +1) including the game-winner on 6 shots
2nd Star: Luke Erickson (ARZ) - 1 Point (1 G, 0 A, -1) on 6 shots
3rd Star: Kyle Howarth - 1 Point (1 G, 0 A, +1) on 1 shot

You can view Pointstreak's box score here and their Game Live broadcast here.

Game two of the three-game series with the Sundogs at Tim's Toyota Center is tomorrow night with the opening face off at 8:05 CST. You can watch all the action on CHL-TV.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith