The Norman Northstars came up short last night at the C.A. Nesbitt arena as the Eastman Selects skated away with a 5-3 victory.
For the first time in a while, the Northstars were the team with a full roster card, while the EastMan squad was down a few players. The Northstars were augmented by two "AP" call-ups, goaltender Rylan Potkonjak and forward Morgan Beauchamp.
Shelding Howard opened up the scoring 57 seconds into the first period (assisted by Jamie Valentino and Branden Hill) to give the Northstars an early 1-0 lead. It wasn't long, however, before Eastman answered back. The Selects would put five unanswered goals past Potkonjak, who was making his Midget "AAA" debut.
The second period saw the NorMan squad start to mount a comeback, with powerplay goals from captain Jerome Linklater and Hunter Rambow. Both of the goals came when Spencer Morrison was in the box for the Selects.
The comeback, however, wasn't meant to be as Eastman goaltender Justin Powers closed the door in the third to lead his team to a 5-3 victory. Potkonjak made 44 saves in his Northstars debut.
The two teams will meet again tonight for the conclusion of their weekend series. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30pm.
