Weekend Preview: Sugar Land Style

Oct 9, 2015

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX – After a tough four game stint at home last weekend the Texas Brahmas are ready to turn the page as they depart on their first road trip of the season.

Traveling over four hours to the southeast the opponent this weekend is the Sugar Land Imperials.  Coming in at 4-1-0 the Imperials split a series with Louisiana to open their season and more recently swept Euless in a three game set.  This weekend marks the end of their stretch of games at home to start their season.

The divisional foes are led by stud forwards Luca Valenza and Zac McKenna who are both averaging two-plus points-per-game already this season.  Additionally, both come into the weekend with a +7 rating in plus/minus.  In net, Kevin Mackey has held the leading role as he’s started four out of the five games for Sugar Land.  His record is 3-1-1 with a 2.70 goals against average and .888 save percentage.

Unlike their opening series at NYTEX, the Euless Jr. Stars were actually able to score a few on Sugar Land, in fact 11 goals in three games.  They even forced a shootout in their final contest.  On the other side, the Imperials scored six goals in all three games, so their scoring appears to be consistent.

For Texas, a successful weekend is an absolute necessity after the harsh reality check that wrapped up earlier this week.  Point Mallard and Atlanta both left NYTEX with 2-0 stints, one’s that the Brahmas are eager to forget.

Kyle Galloway leads the way for the team with a goal-per-game average so far.  Newly added returner Mykyta Sheptytsky quietly made his impact felt with four assists in his first four games with the team over the weekend.  With those two positive performances aside, it’s been a constant shuffling of lines up front for head coach Al Rooney.

In net, it’s been split duties for both Brandon Perrone and Tyler Myers.  Both come in at 1-1-1 and nearly identical numbers.  Their goals against average’s are separated by one one-hundredth of a percent and their save percentage’s are separated by .19. 

The two team’s will do battle three times this weekend, beginning tonight at 7 P.M. at Sugar Land Ice.