Killer Bees sting Brahmas with 5-4 shootout win

Chad Woollard scores natural hat trick in Brahmas' OT loss

The Brahmas suffered defeat for the third straight game as the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bee stole the win on Saturday night at the State Farm Arena.

The Bees and Brahmas fought back and forth for the upper hand in the high scoring game. The game was sent into overtime and then a shootout after the two teams tried to break the third tie of the night at 4-4. In the end, RGV's Aaron Lee scored the game-winner in the shootout.

With the loss, the Brahmas earned a point in the standings which was enough to give them sole possession of third place in the Berry Conference with a 20-17-8 record (48 points). This puts them a point ahead of the Tulsa Oilers, 11 points behind second-place Allen and 12 points behind first-place Wichita.

The first period saw a great deal of action as the Killer Bees and the Brahmas each registered a pair of goals, three of which in the first five minutes.

The Killer Bees took an early lead thanks to a Zac Pearson goal 1:59 into the opening frame. Pearson took the puck in from the top of the right circle where it was stopped at first by Mark Guggenberger. After a scramble around the net, Pearson managed to tap it in to register the first goal of the night. Phillip Ischi and Jake Hauswirth earned the assists.

The Killer Bees struck again at the 4:24 mark when Nicolas Rioux took a feed from Jason Dixon and fired one past Guggenberger from the point. Jake Hauswirth earned his second assist of the night on the play.

Just 32 seconds later, Chad Woollard scored one for the Brahmas. T.J. Fox had the assist. Then, at the 13:23 mark, Woollard teamed up again with Fox and got another one past Wylie Rogers to tie the game up at 2-2.

The tie held up as the teams went into the locker rooms for the first intermission. Shots were even at eight apiece.

Woollard secured a natural hat trick early in the second period when he scored his third goal of the night at the 3:36 mark, giving Texas a one point advantage.

The advantage didn't last long though - Phillip Ischi tied the game at 3-3 at the 4:43 mark. Mike Wilson drove the puck from the defensive side and fed it to Ischi who found the back of the net from the slot.

Adam Hogg answered back for the Brahmas shortly afterward, which put Texas back in the lead at 4-3 for the remainder of the period.

The Brahmas had a 12-8 shot advantage in the middle frame.

The game slowed in the third period until Kirill Startsev put the puck between the pipes 10:58 into the period and tied the game for the third time at 4-4. Craig Lineker and Mike Wilson assisted the goal.

The Brahmas held the 8-6 shot advantage in the third period but neither goalie could be beat again and the game was sent into overtime tied at 4-4, and then went into a shootout. Chris Moran, T.J. Fox, Adam Hogg, Chad Woollard and Phil Fox shot for the Brahmas but were unable to beat Rogers. Aaron Lee scored the game-winning goal for the Bees.

The Brahmas characteristically went 0 for 5 on the power play. The Bucks went 3 for 4. The Brahmas were assessed 15 minutes on six infractions; the Bucks received 27 minutes on eight infractions.

Mark Guggenberger stopped 22 of 26 shots faced and takes the overtime loss. His record goes to 9-4-3 with a 2.24 GAA (2nd in the league) and a .918 Save Percentage (6th in the league).

The Brahmas were assessed 12 minutes on six infractions and went 0 for 1 on the power play.

Referee: Steve Cruikshank
Linesman 1: Aaron Chockla
Linesman 2: Brad Duncan

1st Star: Phillip Ischi (RGV)
2nd Star: Chad Woollard
3rd Star: Jake Hauswirth (RGV)

You can view the box score here and the GameLive broadcast here.

The Brahmas have returned home and will host the Allen Americans on Friday night with the opening puck drop slated for 7:30 pm CST.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith