The Colorado Grit left it all on the ice in a hard-fought battle against the Shreveport Mudbugs in
the opening game of their two-game series, but in the end, it was heartbreak in the shootout as
Shreveport skated away with the 3-2 win.

The Grit set a fast pace tone right away with crisp breakouts coming out of the zone. The Grit
opened the scoring when the forward buried his ninth goal of the season. Both teams traded
chances throughout the period, but the Grit’s defensive structure held strong, keeping the
Mudbugs off the board through the first 20 minutes.

Shreveport found their equalizer early in the second period on the penalty kill. Forward Brent
Litchard netted his 17th of the season after capitalizing on a defensive miscue, tying the game at
one. The Grit responded with three power play opportunities but failed to convert, unable to
break through Shreveport’s penalty-kill unit. However, at 13:43, Sheldon Rioux answered the
call, burning a goal to give the Grit back up 2-1. The Grit outshot Shreveport 17-12 in the period,
but the margin remained razor-thin heading into the final frame.

Shreveport found the equalizer 5:13 into the third period, with Andrew Seminara slotting one
home to make it 2-2. The intensity only ramped up from there, as both teams looked to take the
lead. The Grit found themselves in trouble after taking two penalties late in the frame but
managed to weather the storm with clutch defensive efforts. Despite the back-and-forth action,
neither team could find the winner in regulation.

Overtime saw the Grit create some solid scoring opportunities, but they couldn’t solve the
Mudbugs’ netminder. With nothing settled in the extra frame, the game went to a shootout. In the
skills competition, Brent Litchard played the hero for Shreveport, scoring the lone shootout goal
and sealing the win for the Mudbugs.

After the heartbreaker, the Grit will get their chance tomorrow to bounce back against the
Mudbugs.