4-Goal 2nd Period Lifts Baton Rouge Over Biloxi (4/10)

BATON ROUGE, LA - Back on the sheet for the final time on a Friday night, the Breakers looked for some revenge against their I-10 rival the Baton Rouge Zydeco. Led by 4 unanswered goals in a span of 8:02 in the 2nd, the Zydeco never looked back en route to a 4-1 home victory over the Breakers.

Period 1 featured end to end action for sides. In goal was a fresh matchup of Rahul Sharma and Ed Coffey, and they put on a show between the pipes to begin the game. In a game without a tally on the scoreboard, Sharma stopped all 20 shots he faced while Coffey countered with 13 of his own. The biggest fireworks of the 1st period came just after the midway point, with AJ Schlepp and Matthew Bazarin shedding the gloves for a highly anticipated heavyweight tilt. Both fighters got a fair share of licks in before slamming down to the ice with the building coming to life. With 40 more minutes on the clock, it was anyone’s game. 

Period 2 began in a similar way that period 1 ended. Both teams created some chances but it was all about the goaltending. As the midway point approached, at 9:02 Tyler Larwood opened the games scoring with a wrist shot past Sharma to make it 1-0. Once the first one found the twine, Baton Rouge opened the floodgates, adding another 3 in the ensuing 8 minutes. At 12:28, Austin Weber fired a bullet off a faceoff win past Sharma on the blocker side to make it 2-0. At 15:06, Matthew Bazarin took a beautiful drop pass from Ilnur Madiarov in the slot and fired it to the top corner to make it 3. And then finally at 17:09, Tyler Larwood backhanded a 2nd chance opportunity over the top of a scrambling Sharma to make it 4-0. The goal marks 100 career FPHL points all with the Zydeco for Larwood. Baton Rouge dominated 2nd period shots 21-8, and were set to take a 4 goal cushion into the room in the penultimate regular season game. 

The Breakers began period 3 on a positive note just 31 seconds in with Al Rotiroti squeezing a shot past Ed Coffey to pull Biloxi to within 3. The rest of the way neither team had an answer on the scoreboard, but there was still plenty of physicality. To close out the penultimate game as the horn sounded, AJ Schlepp went after Heath Ford, leading to a clearing of both benches and many heated words exchanged. The stage was set for an intense regular season finale on tap tomorrow between these two proximate rivals. Baton Rouge outshot Biloxi 56-31 in full time.

The two teams will conclude their 2026 campaigns tomorrow night at 7:05 inside the Raising Canes River Center.