SAN ANTONIO – Two weeks ago, the Rampage looked like they had hit their stride. With forward Jordan Kyrou back in the lineup, San Antonio had won a pair of games against the Texas Stars, including a dominant 8-2 victory over their I-35 rivals on Nov 2 at home.
Since that night, the Rampage haven’t been able to get back in the win column.
After two tough losses to the Milwaukee Admirals over the weekend, San Antonio dropped the final game of their four-game home stand to the Colorado Eagles, 3-1. It’s the team’s third straight loss, their longest skid of the young season.
“It’s disappointing,” said head coach Drew Bannister. “It’s disappointing to lose at any time when you’re at home, but to give up six points... We played well at certain times in the game, but we still weren’t able to put together 60 minutes. Now we have to try to make up some points on the road, which is always difficult, but we have to find a way.”
Jacob MacDonald broke the ice for the Eagles in the fifth minute of play, burying a rebound past San Antonio goaltender Adam Wilcox. Erik Condra doubled the lead in the second period with a close-range shot under Wilcox’s pad.
“In the first period, we didn’t manage the puck properly, and that led to one goal against,” Bannister said. “In the second, we took a pair of penalties, and we were chasing the game a little bit. We spent a little too much time in the defensive zone, and we weren’t as able to establish a forecheck because we were stuck on changes. We only had five shots on goal in that period up until the 18 minute mark.”
That’s when the Rampage broke through. Colorado’s Dan Renouf was called for tripping with two minutes left in the period, and Cam Darcy made the most of the man-advantage, ripping a shot past Eagles goaltender Hunter Miska to cut the lead in half heading into the second intermission. It’s Darcy’s second goal this season, and the center now has ten points in his last nine games.
“It was good,” Darcy said. “[Derrick] Pouliot gave it over to me. I had some time, saw a little opening and actually got a lucky bounce off the defender’s leg before it went in. It was definitely good to get momentum heading into the next period.”
San Antonio put Miska to the test throughout the final frame, creating multiple scoring opportunities and outshooting Colorado 16-4. But Miska was up to the task, finishing the night with 38 saves and keeping the Rampage off the scoresheet for the remainder of the game.
“Their goalie played well, whether it was puck luck or not," Bannister said. "He made the saves that he needed to. Sometimes you have to lean on your goalie when you’re on the road, and they got a good performance out of him.”
Colorado extended the lead midway through the third period. Igor Shvyrev capitalized on a turnover behind the net, providing the final margin.
“We need to be better in the defensive zone, better at both blue lines and we weren’t doing that today,” Darcy said. “It ended up costing us.”
The loss drops the Rampage to 6-4-4 overall this season, 0-5-0 all time against Colorado. San Antonio now prepares for a six-day, four-game road trip starting this Friday with the first of two games against the Manitoba Moose at BellMTS Iceplex this Friday at 7 p.m.