The Oklahoma Warriors continued to be a thorn in the Shreveport Mudbugs. Not only did they break the six-game winning streak, but now have a 5-1 record against the Mudbugs for the season. The sweep by the Warriors stopped an opportunity for Shreveport to move within one point of second place but dropped them down to fourth place now. The Mudbugs’ offense produced seven goals for the weekend. The problem was the defense gave up 11 goals over the weekend. The Mudbugs now have to get past last weekend and look forward to a series that is amped up with Odessa. Shreveport will be facing a team in sixth place that is trying to save their season for a playoff spot and has been 6-4 in their last ten games. “We didn’t take care of business this weekend,” said Coach Jason “Soupy” Campbell. “Even if we would have won both games this weekend, both games would have been big, but at least we would have had a little bit of a cushion. We didn’t do it so now we have a little more pressure on us. We don’t want to just focus on the win because then we are going to be focusing on the wrong things to get there. It’s a big weekend for us. We’re hanging on to that fourth spot and these guys are chasing us. We’ve got to have a good week of practice so we can execute well this weekend and hopefully we put ourselves in a good position to prepare for the first-place team in the division.”
Oklahoma 5, Mudbugs 4
Oklahoma scored the first goal in the first seven minutes of the game with a goal from Brendan Williams. Shreveport evened the score just 14 seconds later with a goal from Eric Vitale. Vitale continued his points streak to 13 games after the weekend. This is currently the second-longest streak in the NAHL. Drake Morse and Jaden Goldie were credited with the assists. Shreveport jumped to the lead with a goal from Logan Gotinsky and help from Garrett Steele. A minute later Vitale gained his second goal of the night along with Morse and Goldie’s second assists. Oklahoma closed the gap in the final two minutes of the first period. Shreveport led 3-2 at the end of the first period
The Warriors tied the game with three minutes remaining in the second period.
Beginning of the third period, the fans got to see some 4-on-4 action as Oklahoma’s Blaise Miller and Mudbug Nick Marino were sent to the penalty box. Thirteen seconds later Oklahoma had a 4-on-3 advantage as Sutton Murray joined Marino in the sin bin for hooking. Oklahoma’s Rylan Brady gave the Warriors the lead on the power play goal. Mudbugs had three power play opportunities but were unable to cut into the 4-3 lead. Mudbugs tried to get the man advantage by pulling Bucheler. The plan backfired as Oklahoma’s Rylan Brady gained his hat trick on the empty netter. Shreveport scored in the final 23 seconds with a goal from Jaden Goldie and an assist from Morse and Ryan Burke.
Shreveport slightly outshot Oklahoma 36-35. The Mudbugs were also 1 for 6 on power plays. Simon Bucheler had 30 saves.
Oklahoma 6, Mudbugs 3
The Mudbugs started with a hot first quarter. Garrett Steele scored first with help from Ryan Burke and Ryan Austin. Drake Morse scored the second goal on a power play. Assists were given to Jaden Goldie and Eric Vitale. Sutton Murray gave Shreveport a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period. Maksim Sushchynski was credited with the assist.
The hot first quarter cooled off in the second period as an old habit reared its head against the Mudbugs. Logan Gotinsky was sent to the penalty box for a check from behind giving Oklahoma the power play. Max Dronen scored on the power play. The Warriors scored again less than three minutes later. Blaise Miller tied the game for the Warriors. Oklahoma took the lead behind William Lawson-Body’s goal with less than two minutes left. The nightmare second period allowed one more goal for the Warrior with 31 seconds left. Oklahoma had a 5-3 lead heading into the final period.
Blaise Miller gained his second goal in the final period to give the Warriors the 6-3 win along with the sweep of the weekend.
Shreveport outshot Oklahoma 35-26. Tommy Aitken had 20 saves
Shreveport will try to pick back up with the series against Odessa starting Friday at 7:11.
First Line
Maksim Sushchynski, D, 1 Assist, 2 Shots, -1
Matthew Danzinger, D, 3 Shots, +1
Eric Vitale, F, 2 Goals, 1 Assist, 11 Shots, -2
Garrett Steele, F, 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 9 Shots, 0 +/-
Simon Bucheler, G, 30 Saves, .882 Save %
Second Line
Alex Park, D, 4 Shots, -2
Logan Heroux, D, 3 Shots, 0 +/-
Drake Morse, F, 1 Goal, 3 Assists, 5 Shots, -3
Jaden Goldie, F, 1 Goal, 3 Assists, 2 Shots, -1
South Division
- Team W-L-OTL-SOL Pts
- Lone Star 25-4-1-3 54
- Oklahoma 24-6-0-1 49
- New Mexico 19-13-1-1 40
- Shreveport 18-12-2-2 40
- Amarillo 16-13-2-1 35
- Odessa 15-16-0-1 31
- El Paso 11-19-2–0 24
- Corpus Christi 7-22-5-0 19
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