NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX — It was a weekend of slow starts for the Brahmas, who dug themselves into multi-goal deficits in both games.
It’s a testament to the team that they came all the way back for a shootout win in one game and almost forced overtime in the other, but in the end the Brahmas left Corpus Christi with two of four possible points. Not the worst, but not the best either.
In the spirit of looking on the bright side, though: Friday’s game’s final score of 4-2 is a bit misleading. While the IceRays looked like the sharper team through the first half of the game, the Brahmas made a late push and scored two unanswered goals before yielding an empty netter late in the third.
Ryan Orgel and Julian Biondo were the goal-scorers for the Brahmas that night, while Aleksi Peltonen, Garrett Hallford, and the red-hot Larry Jungwirth found the back of the net for the IceRays, with Jungwirth scoring twice.
Saturday was similar to start, with Corpus Christi taking a first period lead. This time, though, the Brahmas answered back in the form of a Kyle Hallbauer goal in the second period.
The IceRays then scored twice, but the Brahmas were quick to cut that lead in half with an Aidan Spellacy goal soon after the Rays went up 3-1.
The equalizer came during a netfront scramble. There were quite a few of those as the Brahmas pushed for the tying goal, but goaltender Chad Veltri and the IceRays did a good job of keeping the puck out of the net until Austin Bottrell took full advantage of a near-empty net and the puck bouncing in the crease.
After a harrowing but scoreless overtime in which the Brahmas were forced to play a full two-minute penalty kill, the Lone Star defensemen came through during the shootout. Kyle Hallbauer and Kimball Johnson both scored and goaltender Mitchell Gibson stood tall in net for the Brahmas’ first shootout win of the season.
The Brahmas are right back at it this week at home, with a quick turnaround and a game on Wednesday night, followed by games Friday and Saturday.
The game on Wednesday will feature a 7:05 PM puck drop, while Friday and Saturday will be the customary 7:30 PM start time.