The Shreveport Mudbugs (7-1) scored four unanswered goals to erase an early deficit and beat the Maine Nordiques, 4-1 Friday night to be one win away from a return trip to the Robertson Cup Championship game.
The Nords got off to a hot start just 34 seconds into the contest when James Philpott threw in a goal off a deflection in front to give Maine an early 1-0 lead. The Bugs came right back at 1:56 when Garrett Steele jabbed in his third tally of the playoffs along the far side assisted by Braiden Dorfman and Austin Brimmer.
The Bugs would take advantage of their first PP of the night early in the 2nd period when Dawson Sciarrino fed a perfect pass short side to Adam Kolcon who tapped in his first tally of the playoffs to give Shreveport a 2-1 lead at 1:13. Shreveport added another tally when Chris Hedden went through the slot and found Gio Procopio who poked home his third goal from the far side to make it a 3-1 edge at 5:43. The Bugs led in SOG, 24-14 after two.
The Bugs owned the third period and added another tally from Procopio who pelted one from the near corner which found its way through for his second tally of the game to make it a 4-1 contest at 14:59.
Cole Hudson improved to 7-0 in these playoffs as he made 23 saves on the night.
The Bugs and Nords will play game two of this best-of-three series tomorrow night from Fogerty Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m