Chesterfield, MO - In the second game of the St. Louis Tier I Elite League Showcase, the Rocky Mountain Roughriders play a fantastic game of hockey, only to give up the comeback at the end of the third period in a 5-3 loss.
The Fury jumped out to an early lead when Tommy Stanislavski grabbed the opening goal at 6:56 of the 1st period. The Fury netted the second goal, putting the Roughriders down 2 goals early, on a Jake Slaker goal. The Roughriders may have been down, but they certainly were not out. In fact, the Roughriders were playing perhaps their best hockey of the season. Caleb Pola finally got the payout for the teams hard work when he buried a shot at 10:04 of the first period to cut the lead in half.
The Fury, rated #3 in the country, was not going to go away quietly and their top scorer, Jet Bell, was to be sure of that when he put the Fury up 3 goals to 1 at 12:51 of the first period. Brandon Fushimi grabbed a quick goal on a Vincent Guimond assist to trim the lead to one goal at 16:27 of the first period. The Fury were able to carry the lead into the intermission and first ice make, however the Roughriders were nipping at their heels.
With just 2:26 off the clock in the second period, Brenden Billota tied the game on a tremendous effort. The Roughriders were skating neck and neck with the Fury. The Roughriders were the better team in the second and seemed to have all the lines working well together. At 9:19 of the second period, the Fury were able to grab the lead back on a Niko Hildenbrand goal. Despite a barrage of shots on goal by the Roughriders, the Fury skated into the intermission with a one goal lead.
The Roughriders were far from finished. Continuing on a great second period of action, the Roughriders came out skating hard. A strong forecheck and a relentless back check were the order of the day. Back and forth, up and down the ice both teams raced. This was a game that drew a crowd and on any other day could have charged for admission. At 16:05 of the third period, just 55 seconds left in the game, the Roughriders were pressing hard in the offensive zone when the pucked popped out of the zone and right onto a charging Fury stick. Russ Ferro made no mistake in capitalizing on the turnover and ended the Roughriders comeback.
It is hard to lose any game, but knowing that you competed to the final buzzer with one of the top teams in the country is a good building block to grow on.
Shots were virtually even with Jared Young facing 29 shots for the Roughriders and Churchill facing 30 for the Fury.
Official Gamesheet
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