Brahmas snap Wildcats winning streak on Thursday

December 18, 2015

 

Lone Star Brahmas 8 @ Wichita Falls Wildcats 2 - The Wichita Falls Wildcats were outplayed from start to finish Thursday night and were beaten on home ice by a score of 8-2.

 

In the midst of their longest winning streak of the season, the Wildcats were eyeballing a tenth straight victory. However, they appeared extremely flat early in the first period. The Brahmas dominated the Wildcats in the first five minutes of the game, scoring three unanswered goals. Alex Berardinelli, Martin Mellberg, and Troy York all scored for Lone Star within five minutes. Berardinelli and Mellberg each scored partial breakaway goals by sneaking shots through Justin Kapelmaster’s equipment, and York picked up a stationary puck off an offensive zone faceoff before firing a simple wrist shot into the net.

 

York’s goal would mark the end of Kapelmaster’s night, who conceded three goals on seven shots. To give the Cats a jolt, he replaced Kapelmaster with Julian Sime. The change tipped the scales in the Wildcats’ favor a bit, and Adam Goodsir finally got the scoring opened for the Wildcats by burying a rebound past Corbin Kaczperski at the end of a power play.

 

The Wildcats responded the way they needed to at the onset of the second period. They fired shots on goal early and often, but had nothing to show for it. The Brahmas were the only team to score in the middle frame, as Tyler Drevitch tucked the puck past an outstretch pad of Sime to score his first goal as a Brahma.

 

Trailing 4-1 heading into period three, the Wildcats knew they had to score quickly if they were to muster a comeback. Garrett Van Wyhe did just that, shooting a rebound past Kaczperski on the power play in a goal similar to Goodsir’s. However, after that tally, the Wildcats went into free fall. The Brahmas would then score the final four goals of the game, including two from Cody Wickline and others from Hogan Davidson and Martin Mellberg.

 

Kapelmaster was given his second regulation loss of the season, making four saves on seven shots. Kaczperski was handed his eighth win, stopping 26 of 28 shots.