The Shreveport Mudbugs (25-7-5) got timely goals and goaltending to beat the Lone Star Brahmas, 3-1 and sweep their arch-rival Saturday night at George’s Pond in Hirsch Coliseum.
The Bugs opened up the scoring for the second straight night as Joe Mack rifled home his third goal of the series and 10th of the season from the left wing off a brilliant feed from Braiden Dorfman on the PP. Dorfman and Dawson Sciarrino earned the assists on the game’s first goal at 15:43 to give Shreveport a 1-0 lead. In a very tightly contested opening frame, the Bugs led in SOG, 9-8.
Shreveport extended their lead just 27 seconds into the 2nd period when Sciarrino raced in from the far side and threw it towards the net and the puck rolled off Graham Burke’s pads and into the net for his eighth tally of the season to give the Bugs a 2-0 lead. Austin Brimmer earned the only assist as he dropped it off for Sciarrino to take. After that goal though, Lone Star tilted the ice in their favor and at 7:32 on the PP, it was Dawson Tritt tapping in his fifth goal of the season on a tic-tac-toe play from the short side to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Brahmas led in SOG, 8-6 in the middle frame.
Lone Star threw the kitchen sink in the third period, but Cole Hudson stood tall in net to keep it a 2-1 contest. Then it was Gio Procopio tapping in the empty-net tally at 18:56 to seal up a 3-1 victory for Shreveport and sole possession of 1st place in the South Division.
Hudson makes 24 saves on the night to earn his 15th win in net.
The Bugs will hit the road and begin a two-game series against the Wichita Falls Wildcats next Friday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from Kay Yeager Coliseum.