The Shreveport Mudbugs (0-1) couldn’t stop a barrage from the Lone Star Brahmas in the 2nd period falling 5-1 in Game 1 of their South Divisional Semi-Final series Friday night at the Nytex Sports Centre.
The Mudbugs put the pressure on early in the game which included David Breazeale hitting the post on their best scoring chance in the 1st period. Both teams failed to score on their powerplay attempts. Shreveport out-shot Lone Star, 12-5 after the opening period.
The tides turned severely against Shreveport in the 2nd period when Lone Star broke through on the scoreboard with goals from Blake Evennou and Joey Baez – 1:05 apart lifting the Brahmas to a 2-0 edge. The Brahmas carried that momentum through the middle period as Andrew DeCarlo and Michael Stinil scored 1:13 apart late in the frame to extend their lead to 4-0 over the Bugs. After it was 3-0, the Bugs made a switch at goaltending pulling Maiszon Balboa in favor of Leo Chuard. The Brahmas led in SOG in the period, 10-8.
Shreveport got a little ray of life at 10:22 of the 3rd period as Warren Natyshak nailed in his first goal of the playoffs from the left wing making it a 4-1 contest. That would be all the Bugs would be able to muster against Seth Eisele as Joey Baez was scored his 2nd goal of the game at 14:33 making it a 5-1 Lone Star victory over Shreveport.
The Bugs trail the Brahmas, 1-0 in the best of five opening round series.
The Mudbugs and Brahmas will continue their 1st round best-of-five series tomorrow night with Game 2. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from the Nytex Sports Centre.