Photo Credit: Noah Markuna
Peoria can’t gain momentum, head home to regroup
Oregon, WI – The Peoria Mustangs hit the road and made the final trip of the regular season to the Oregon Ice Arena and a duel with the Tradesmen. Peoria gained an early lead Friday night before surrendering the game tying goal as well as the game winner in overtime. Saturday night the Mustangs fell behind and could never gain momentum as they suffered a 5-1 loss to the Tradesmen. With the overtime loss and regulation loss the Mustangs fall to 22-18-3 on the season and remain in 4th place in the Central Division.
Friday: PEO 1 – ORE 2 OT
Friday night the Mustangs grabbed a first period lead, but Oregon tied the game in the second and a scoreless third period led to an overtime session. Peoria weathered the storm but couldn’t push the game to a shootout as the Tradesmen netted the game winner 3:29 into the overtime session.
Peoria opened the scoring just prior to the midway point of the opening frame when Beckett Doyle fired the puck past Oregon netminder Tyler Fromolz and into the back of the net at 8:55 of the opening period and a 1-0 Mustangs edge.
The Tradesmen tied the game in the late stages of the middle period, Bryce Stensrud tallied his 24th goal of the season at 18:36 and a 1-1 tie.
The teams skated a scoreless final period before the game progressed to the 3-on-3 overtime session. The Mustangs weathered the storm but, Ben Parent found the back of the net 3:29 into the extra session and a 2-1 Oregon victory.
Cam Pendleton suffered the overtime loss between the pipes stopping 38 of 40 shots faced in the contest. With the overtime loss Pendleton falls to 6-13-3 on the season.
Saturday: PEO 1 – ORE 5
Saturday night the Mustangs fell behind by a pair of goals before the opened the scoring but couldn’t draw any closer as they fell by a 5-1 final score.
The Tradesmen opened the scoring with a pair of goals, the first coming 14:51 into the opening period, Max McNeil tallied his 3rd goal of the campaign for the 1-0 Oregon lead. The Tradesmen increase their lead early in the middle period when Max Rotsaert collected his 21st goal of the season at 6:26 of the second period and a 2-0 Tradesmen edge.
Peoria cut into the Tradesmen lead shortly after the second goal when Tristan Trudel pounced on a rebound and cashed in with his 22nd goal of the season at 8:50 of the second period.
Oregon answered with a trio of goals to close out the second period the first at 10:32, Dayne Deanovich tallied his 12th of the season while the Tradesmen were on the power play. Dillon Schmidt collected his 13thof the season at 17:14 and Matthew Shaw rounded out the scoring at 19:42 with his 3rd of the season and the eventual 5-1 final score.
Cam Pendleton suffered the loss between the pipes stopping 24 of 29 shots faced in 40 minutes of action, with the loss Pendleton falls to 6-14-3 on the season.
Joe Ambroffi entered the game to start the 3rd period and stopped all 9 shots faced in the final frame.
What’s Ahead:
The Mustangs remain on the road as they head to Affton, MO for a pair of games with the St. Louis Jr. Blues at the Affton Ice Rink next Saturday 2/25 at 3:30 p.m. and Sunday 2/26 at 11:00 a.m. Both games can be viewed on HockeyTV or by following along on Mustangs social media platforms.
