Too Little Too Late For Zydeco, Fall to Columbus 4-3

Talking to Jackson Bond before the game he said “I’m not a big moral victory guy”. That was a common feeling throughout the Zydeco locker room. They weren’t looking for another game where they were lucky to stick with the River Dragons. They were looking to give them a taste of their own medicine.

From the very drop of the puck you can see that there was certainly a different energy from the Zydeco bench. They pushed the pace of play from the very start of the game. A lot of opportunities were still coming from the outsides, but they still were getting shots through this time.

It was a scoreless first, and first half of the second period, but that didn’t stop the game from being exciting. There were two fights in the second period. Ryo Namiki and Jestin Somero squared off in a quick battle. Later on in the period, Ian McDonald and Connor Lind went toe-to-toe and were throwing haymakers at one another for a good minute or so before tumbling to the ice.

Columbus opened the scoring with a powerplay goal after a shot from the point changed directions multiple times and found Somero wide open at the side of the net. The Zydeco responded with a powerplay goal of their own a minute and a half later thanks to a seeing eye shot from Gehrig Lindberg, his first in a Zydeco sweater. The River Dragons would have one last trick up their sleeve before the period came to a close as Kirk Underwood found himself with a lot of space at the top of the zone and rifled a shot over Colgan’s glove to give the River Dragons a 2-1 lead through two.

The third period saw the momentum shift further to the River Dragons as they scored twice in 2:10 to vault themselves to a 4-1 lead. This Zydeco team never backs down from a fight, though. They continued to chip away and generate chances but couldn’t beat Sammy Bernard.

That is until Elijah Wilson was able to get a gift goal. Laying down on his stomach behind the net, he was somehow able to wrap the puck around the post and sneak it past Bernard to cut the deficit to 4-2. Narek Aleksanyan made it 4-3 on a one timer from between the hashmarks with 5 second left on the clock, but it was not enough time for the Zydeco to finish the comeback.

No moral victories for this Zydeco group, but it is a message to the rest of the league. The Zydeco are here to play, and they can play with the big dogs.

The next game for the Zydeco will be on Friday night as they welcome Mississippi back to town for the first of a home and home series. Catch us on YouTube and WBRZ for that contest. Puck drop is at 7:05, and pre-game show is at 6:40.