Special to Bullet News
The Niagara IceDogs fell to the visiting Saginaw Spirit 5-4 on Saturday night at Jack Gatecliff Arena.
The first period started off strong for the IceDogs as Steven Shipley buried a rebound at the side of the net on the powerplay just past the six-minute mark. Saginaw responded by quickly netting two goals only 30 seconds apart to make it 2-1. They would strike again at 14:07 of the period to gain a 3-1 advantage.
The IceDogs would not let up however and Carter Verhaeghe took advantage of an IceDogs powerplay late in the period, leading an offensive charge to cut the Saginaw lead by one at 3-2. Building off of the offensive momentum, Trevor Petersen netted his fifth goal of the season just under a minute later to tie the game up at 3-3. The shot total at the end of the first period was 14-12 in favour of Niagara.
The second period of the game saw an early shot by the Spirit hit the back of the net to put Saginaw up 4-3. The IceDogs were not fazed and continued to pressure hard looking for the tying goal. Late in the period, Anthony DiFrusica capitalized on a 5- on- 3 powerplay, scoring his 12th of the campaign to tie the game up at 4-4 heading into the third.
The third period saw both teams come out looking for a good ahead goal, but it would be Saginaw finding that goal 2:52 in to retake the lead at 5-4.
The Niagara IceDogs will hit the road Sunday to take on the Brampton Battalion at 2 p.m.
Scoring Summary
1. NIAG S. Shipley, (23) (L. Mercer, T. Mort), 6:09 (PP)
1. SAG J. Lodge, (16) (E. Locke, G. Ross), 10:16
1. SAG E. Locke, (31) (J. Lodge, D. Young), 10:40
1. SAG G. Ross, (28) (E. Locke, J. Lodge), 14:17
1. NIAG C. Verhaeghe, (11) (S. Shipley, A. DiFruscia), 17:04 (PP)
1. NIAG T. Petersen, (5) (B. Hughes, T. Mort), 17:43
2. SAG B. Lindberg, (7) (G. Sutch, J. Ringuette), 1:12
2. NIAG A. DiFruscia, (12) (S. Shipley, C. Verhaeghe), 15:57 (PP)
3. SAG D. Sadowy, (1) (D. Young), 2:52
