Friday: El Paso Rhinos 2 @ Shreveport Mudbugs 4 – Rhinos & Mudbugs hit the ice for the start of a best of 5 Semifinals series! Mudbugs hit the board first tonight as Kyan Haldenby earns them the first goal of the night. Rhinos tie it up at 1-1 at the halfway point as Ryan gingher takes a goal of his own. Mudbugs broke the tie early in the second as Brent Litchard pushed their score to 2-1 just before Jackub Jerman ties it up once more for the Rhinos just a few minutes later. Unfortunately for the Rhinos this would be the last goal of the night. Mudbugs take one more before the period is out and take a 3-2 lead at the end of the second. With one more goal from Hayden Nichol, Mudbugs took Game #1 with a 4-2 victory.
Saturday: El Paso Rhinos 3 @ Shreveport Mudbugs 2 – Rhinos & Mudbugs return to the ice for the second game of the series! The first period saw neither team score as both goaltenders kept the opposing team at bay. It wouldn’t be until the second period where the Mudbugs took first blood as Brayden Cook earns himself a goal at the 10:07 mark. The period wasn’t all Bugs though as Luke Lindsay came in at the last minute to put the Rhinos on the board and tie up the game at 1-1. Headed in to the second we’d see the same tune as the first where Mudbugs score early (Logan Heroux) and a last minute goal from the Rhinos (Medrick Bolduc) to tie it up at 2-2 with less than a minute on to the clock. With no further scoring we’d see the end of regulation time, sending us in to four consecutive overtime periods. With both teams fatigued and the clock striking midnight one player finally broke the stalemate. Eddie Shepler gets the puck in the net at just 2:13 into OT 4 (7th Period) for a well-earned victory.
