The Shreveport Mudbugs (5-3) battled and clawed, but couldn’t recover from a late breakdown as they fell to the Amarillo Bulls, 4-2 Saturday night at the Amarillo Civic Center.
Both teams traded good scoring chances, but it was Richie Parent who made the big stops to keep the game scoreless after one period of play. Amarillo led in SOG, 12-7 after the opening frame.
Sam Miller broke a scoreless tie at 15:52 of the 2nd period when he skated to the high slot and roofed in his first goal of the season giving Shreveport the 1-0 lead. The lead was short-lived as Aaron White quickly scored from the far circle at 16:20 to even the score, 1-1. Amarillo would then capitalize on the PP when Matt Allen would poke home a rebound in front to make it a 2-1 lead at 19:26 of the middle period. Bulls led in SOG, 24-16 after two periods of play.
The Mudbugs got a huge goal at 6:43 of the 3rd period when Dawson Sciarrino took off on a breakaway and scored on the backhand unassisted to knot the game at 2. The Bulls though broke the 2-2 tied when Matt Allen raced into the slot and snapped home his 2nd goal of the game giving the Bulls a 3-2 lead at 14:01 of the final period. The Bugs would fail to tie the game again on a PP chance late in the game going 0 for 3 on their chances overall. Amarillo would add in an empty net tally to down the Bugs, 4-2 in the end.
Richie Parent took the tough luck loss despite making 31 saves in the contest.
The Mudbugs will head back up to the midwest and play the Springfield Jr. Blues for a two-game series beginning next Friday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.