The Shreveport Mudbugs (16-3-3) held off the wild last couple of minutes in the third and added an empty-net tally to beat the Lone Star Brahmas, 4-2 Friday night at Nytex Sports Centre.
The Bugs overcame a rough start to the game as Mason McCormick buried home his fourth tally of the season in the slot to give Shreveport a 1-0 lead at 11:06. Dawson Sciarrino and Matt Vermaeten earned the assists. Lone Star led in SOG, 10-9 after one period of play.
Lone Star tied the game on PP when Mitchell Digby poked in his sixth goal of the season to tie the game 1-1 at 5:26 of the 2nd period. Shreveport regained the lead after a stretch pass from Braiden Dorfman which was fired home from Billy Feczko at 7:28 to give the Bugs the lead back at 2-1. It was Feczko’s fifth tally in his last four games assisted by Dorfman and Chris Hedden. The Bugs would extend the lead at 11:28 when Gio Procopio sniped in his seventh goal of the year from the right-wing after the faceoff draw was won by Joe Mack to make it a 3-1 contest. Shreveport led in SOG, 25-22 after two periods of play.
Lone Star got closer with a PP goal when Luke Johnson deflected home at 2:02 of the 3rd period to make it a 3-2 contest. The Bugs held off a furious surge from the Brahmas and it was Matt Weber scoring the EN goal to seal off a 4-2 hard-fought victory for Shreveport.
Arseni Sergeyev made 27 saves to earn his first win of the season in net for Shreveport.
The Bugs and Brahmas will conclude their two-game series tomorrow night at the Nytex Sports Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.