Photo Credit: Daryl Smith/The Paisano
The San Antonio Rampage (9-9-0-1) failed to win their third consecutive game against the Toronto Marlies (10-7-1-0). Coming in, the Rampage had won six consecutive home games, while the Marlies had lost four straight road games before their matchup on Sunday, Nov. 24, at the AT&T Center.
Rampage rookie center Vincent Trocheck, who is second in the league for rookies in total points, was shut down by the tenacious defense of Toronto.
The game started out with great defense on both ends of the rink as the two teams battled with physical play.
It was Rampage defenseman Colby Robak who put San Antonio ahead at the 16:10 mark of the first period to give them a 1-0 lead. The second period was laced with competitive play and hard penalties.
“We took a lot of penalties in the second,” Rampage center Greg Rallo said. “When that happens, you can’t get into a flow.”
Just two minutes into the second period, the Marlies Spencer Abbott, who leads the league with 18 assists, scored on a power-play goal assisted from defensemen John-Michael Liles and T.J. Brennan to tie the game at one point apiece.
The tie was broken with 1:27 left in the second, when Toronto left wing Troy Bodie scored on a pass from defenseman Kevin Marshall and center Andrew Crescenzi.
However, with only 17 seconds left in the second period, Rallo tied the game again on a power-play goal.
In the final period, the game seemed evenly match until about four minutes left in the game. Toronto defenseman T.J. Brennan scored another power-play goal to give a 3-2 lead to the Marlies.
The Rampage tried to score desperately, but the puck was batted out and Toronto’s left wing Jerry D’Amigo scored an empty-net goal to seal the 4-2 victory.
“We had chances. We didn’t bury them,” Rampage Head Coach Tom Rowe stated. “It’s the most frustrating thing to me that we keep hovering around .500. We’re not going to change that much for the next team. We just got to get a little sharper, mentally.”
The Marlies are now are 5-4 against the Rampage over the last five years.
The Rampage’s next two games are against the Oklahoma City Barons. The first game will be at home in the AT&T Center on Friday, Nov. 29.
