Adam Hogg celebrates his game-winning goal in last night's shootout

Deja Vu - Brahmas steal win in shootout

Hogg nets second consecutive game-winner

The Texas Brahmas defeated the Laredo Bucks 5-4 Saturday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre, much like they beat the Missouri Mavericks the night before - Phil Fox scored the tying goal, Mark Guggenberger stopped all opposing shooters and Adam Hogg tallied the game-winner in a shootout.

The win puts the Brahmas (32-19-8) just one win shy of not only clinching a playoff berth, but also ensuring at least a third-place finish in the Berry Conference.

Laredo got out to a 2-0 lead behind goals from Rusty Masters and A.J. Hau in the first six minutes of the second period. T.J. Fox cut the deficit in half when he buried home a rebound past Bucks' goaltender Torrie Jung at the 6:48 mark. After Trevor Hunt added a goal for Laredo and extended the lead to 3-1, Fox beat Jung again for his second goal of the night and 15th of the season.

Ryan Sparling gave Laredo a two-goal lead once again when he beat netminder Mark Guggenberger top-shelf at the 2:00 mark of the third period. But as they did Friday night, the Brahmas responded with a third period comeback. Just one minute after Sparling extended the Laredo lead to 4-2, Chad Woollard pulled Texas within a goal when he wristed a puck past Jung. For Woollard, it was his 26th goal of the season and his sixth in as many games.

At the 10:11 mark of the third period, Phil Fox weaved his way through the Laredo defense and fired a shot into the back of the net to even the score at four goals apiece and send the game into overtime.

After a scoreless overtime period, the Brahmas prevailed in the shootout, as Adam Hogg netted the game-winner on Texas' last shot for the second consecutive night. For Hogg, it was his eighth game-winner of the season. Guggenberger again did not allow a goal on five attempts, improving his save percentage in the shootout to 78.4 percent.

The Brahmas (32-19-8) are now just one win shy of not only clinching a playoff berth, but also ensuring at least a third-place finish in the Berry Conference.

Mark Guggenberger stopped 15 of 19 shots faced and earned the win. His record goes to 21-6-3-3 with a 1.96 GAA (1st in the league) and a .923 Save Percentage (3rd in the league).

The Brahmas were assessed 8 minutes on 4 infractions and went 0 for 4 on the power play.

Referee: Zak Blazic
Linesman 1: Bill McGoldrick
Linesman 2: T.J. Nua

1st Star: Adam Hogg (1 G, 1 A)
2nd Star: T.J. Fox (2 G, 1 A)
3rd Star: Chad Woollard (1 G, 3 A)

You can view Pointstreak's Box Score here and their GameLive broadcast here. You can view my photos from the game here.

Texas is back in action Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17 at the Allen Event Center to take on the Americans. The Brahmas will then return to the NYTEX Sports Centre on Sunday, March 18 at 4:00 pm against Allen for Beer League Night, when the team will wear the jerseys submitted by a local adult-league team.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith