Monroe Strangles Biloxi 10-2 (12/12)

Monroe, LA - A shorthanded Breakers group hit the ice looking to pull off the improbable against a strong Mocs team this past Friday night. After a competitive 1st period, Monroe stepped on the gas and notched 7 unanswered goals to cruise to a 10-2 victory. 

The Breakers and Moccasins were ready to go for their 6th meeting of the season and the first of 7 in the next 5 weeks. In front of a rowdy crowd on Star Wars Night in Monroe, the Snakes came out strong with some early pepper on Josh Rosenzweig. After stopping the first 11 shots he faced, a Jared Christy redirection found its way to the twine to put the home team up 1-0. Just 45 seconds later, Casey Gerstein made a great individual effort to block a shot at the blue line and was off to the races. Making a couple moves, he finished with a nifty backhand to double the margin at 2-0. But the Breakers were not going to go down without a fight. At 10:11, new addition Tim Payne drove hard to the goal and forced a backhand through rookie goaltender Gabe Rosek to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. Searching for an answer, Monroe established the offensive zone and a loose puck was banged home at 14:15 by Corson Green to restore the lead to 2. Before the celebration could subside, just 13 seconds later Trey Fischer crashed the net on a Dylan Infantino shot and shoveled home the loose change to make it 3-2.  The score held at 3-2 as the horn sounded, with the Moccasins outshooting the Breakers 21-13. 

The second period is when things began to unravel for the visitors. The Moccasins began a surge of 7 unanswered tallies, including 3 in the middle frame. At 2:15 Jared Christy potted another for his second of the evening to make it 4-2. At 8:36 the captain Frank Schumacher pinched down low and finished on the doorstep to make it 5-2. And then in the final minute of the second frame Austin Albrecht punched in a one-timer on the back post to make it 6-2. The Moccasins led in shots 31-22 through 40 minutes. 

The 3rd period was a continuation of Monroe dominance, both offensively and physically. It took just 49 seconds for Aaro Tuovinen to fire a shot through traffic past Rosenzweig for his first professional goal to make it 7-2. The final 3 Mocs tallies came inside the final 6 minutes. At 14:36, Tucker Scantlebury patiently drew the Biloxi tender out of his crease and finished top shelf to make it 8-2. 1:02 later, Carlos Fornaris walked down the slot and scored on the stick side to make it 9-2. The final punch came from Schumacher once again with just 16 seconds to play, spearing home a rebound to make it 10-2. The Moccasins outshot the Breakers 44-27 in full time.

The Breakers fall to 5-12-1, as the Moccasins improve to 12-4-2. The two teams will square off tomorrow night again at 7:00 CST inside the Monroe Civic Center.