Clark’s Hat Trick Downs Breakers (2/13)

BILOXI, MS - Despite the loss last night, the Breakers were excited for a fresh slate to make some adjustments on Friday night against the Topeka Scarecrows. Biloxi’s comeback attempt would fall short in an entertaining game as Cam Clark’s hat trick proved to be too much en route to a 5-2 Topeka win. 

Topeka grabbed the momentum early on to begin period 1 after killing a penalty before generating a man advantage opportunity of their own. Although they didn’t score, they were able to garner all kinds of pressure on Rahul Sharma, making his first start in 6 games. At 8:06, off a defensive zone turnover, Cam Clark made a move in tight and finished with a nifty goal to lift Topeka ahead with an early 1-0 lead. Needing an answer, the window of opportunity opened when Grant Bondy was assessed a holding penalty. It took Biloxi a bit to enter the zone, but in the back half they were able to set up their attack. At 10:02, Matt Stoia fired a top corner rocket past Sammy Bernard for his first since returning to Biloxi to tie the game at 1. The final 10 minutes was a “ping pong” match, with both teams struggling to go from north to south and resorting to dumps and changes. Through 20 minutes, the score remained locked up at 1, with Topeka leading in shots 19-9. 

The first half of the second period was very one sided for the Scarecrows. At 1:37, Jacob Gagnon fired a shot from the point through traffic that found the twine for his first goal since January 2nd to boost the ‘Crows back ahead at 2-1. The Breakers didn’t have a shot in the first 10+ minutes of the middle chapter, and then got into penalty trouble. Inside the final 6 minutes, they took 3 minor penalties that were completely avoidable, and found themselves on their heels shorthanded. The kill looked strong, but could only hang on for so long. At 19:11, Alex Norwinski pounded a rebound home for his first goal of the season on the powerplay to make it 3-1. The Breakers were outshot 20-6 in period 2, but trailing only by 2 had more than enough time to string together a comeback. 

Period 3 started quick for the Scarecrows with Cam Clark potting his second of the night at exactly the 2:00 mark to make it 4-1. However, Topeka could only muster 3 shots the rest of the entire frame. At 8:04, AJ Schlepp delivered a one-punch knockout to Connor Lind, injecting some life into Breaker Bay. 3 seconds later, Ross Bartlett cashed in immediately off the faceoff to pull the Breakers to within 2. Biloxi continued the pressure but Sammy Bernard wouldn’t budge again. Cam Clark’s empty net hat trick goal at 19:31 buried the Breakers at 5-2. Biloxi outshot Topeka 16-6 in the final frame. 

The Scarecrows improve to 22-13-1 as the Breakers fall to 6-31-1. Topeka continues their road trip Sunday against Monroe at 3:00 as Biloxi will take 9 days off to regroup before hosting the Blue Ridge Bobcats for a pair next Saturday and Sunday.