The San Antonio Rampage (11-15-0-2) fell to the Texas Stars (16-8-2-2) 5-2 at the AT&T Center Sunday, Dec. 15 in front of 5,210 fans.

The Rampage tried to make a comeback in the third period with left wing Garrett Wilson making the score 3-2 within the first five seconds of the period after an assist from center Drew Shore. San Antonio tried to power through the period with 21 of their 37 shots coming in the third period, but were only able to score once. The Stars sealed the win with two back-to-back goals only two minutes apart later in the period, quickly shutting down any Rampage comeback.

“They (the Stars) are probably the most structured team we’ve played all year…We made too many careless plays with the puck,” said Rampage Head Coach Tom Rowe. “We just have to keep learning from it. We’re getting there, we’re making progress, and that’s the key thing.”

“They’re just an example of consistency,” Rampage team captain and right wing Greg Rallo said. “And it’s something we can learn from, take a page out of their book and move forward.”

The second period was no better for the Rampage, with the score 3-0 by the middle of the period. Things were left on a good note though with a goal by Rallo in the 15th minute, assisted by defensemen Zach Miskovic and Ryan Whitney, ending the period with a score of 3-1. The goal was Rallo’s 100th point with the Rampage.

“It just happened to come right out to me,” Rallo said. “Sometimes, if you just go to the net, the puck seems to find you.”

The Rampage struggled during the first period with the Stars scoring two goals and not leaving any room for the Rampage to gain any sort of control of the puck. Tension was also thick between the two rivals, breaking out into a fight twice within the first 20 minutes of the game.

“Yeah, we went down 3-0 but I’ve got a lot of confidence in these guys, I knew we were going to crawl our way back into it. It was just a matter of when,” coach Rowe said.

The Rampage have now lost six of the last seven games, struggling to find their mid-season form.

“It’s a process,” coach Rowe said after the game. “I think they’re learning an awful lot; we just need to keep making strides. When you lose it’s tough to see the strides, but from a coaching staff, were seeing some positive things starting to happen.”

The loss puts San Antonio at fourth in the West Division and 12th in the Western Conference.

“We’re headed in the right direction, but sooner or later we have to figure it out,” Rallo said.

The Rampage will have another chance to defeat the Stars on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Cedar Park before taking on Milwaukee and Iowa on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21 in back-to-back away games.