TOPKEKA, Kan. – A 2:30 span halfway through the first period spelled doom for the Topeka on Saturday night, and helped send the RoadRunners to their seventh straight NAHL loss.
Pete Kessel followed up his Friday night hat trick with a two-goal performance as league-leading Lone Star rolled up an early four-goal lead and held on for a 4-2 victory over the RoadRunners at the Kansas ExpoCentre.
The outcome leaves Topeka’s NAHL South record at 11-21-3, while Lone Star climbs to 26-8-1 and maintains its position atop the division.
Lone Star’s Austin Kamer got his team rolling 13 minutes into the game, converting on a 2-on-1 break by beating Topeka goalie Mike Rockwell along the ice. Two minutes later Troy York has his long shot elude Rockwell for a 2-0 lead, which ended Rockwell’s night. Ben Churchfield replaced Rockwell, and on the very next shift the Brahmas took advantage of another odd-man rush and as Kessel had a near-empty net to shoot at for a 3-0 lead.
The RoadRunners settled down from there thanks to some steady goaltending by Churchfield, but Kessel added his 21st of the year 9:30 into the second period. The RoadRunners, however, responded as defensemen David Cyr scored his first goal in a Topeka uniform, beating Max Prawdzik with a hard slapper from 55 feet out. Peyton Frantti and Will Schlagenhauf assisted.
Another new RoadRunner, Phil Erickson, scored his first with his new team with 29 seconds remaining in regulation, beating Prawdzik from close range. Johnny DeRoche and Jake Rosenbaum assisted.
Lone Star finished with a 32-29 edge in shots on goal. Churchfield stopped 30 of 32 shots in 45 minutes of work, while Rockwell allowed two goals on 9 shots. For the second straight night, neither team scored while up a man. Topeka went 0-for-4 on the power play, while Lone Star was 0-for-3.
The RoadRunners hit the road next week and will play three games in three nights at Shreveport, beginning Thursday evening at Hirsch Arena. Game-time for all three contests are 7:11 p.m.
