(MACON, Ga.) – The Mayhem battled hard and had their chances, but ultimately fell short in their 3-2 loss to the Birmingham Bulls tonight.
Jake Goldowski started the scoring in the first five minutes, as his marker at 4:43 of the 1st period gave the Mayhem an early lead, and also tied him for the team lead in goals this season with seven, despite missing time while he was called up to the ECHL. It was an incredibly short-lived lead though, as Drake Glover’s ninth of the season came just 20 seconds later to even the game at one goal apiece. Kyler Matthews scored from the blue line before the end of the period to give the Bulls their first lead.
In the second period, the Mayhem were found guilty of having too many men on the ice at the 48 second mark, and Ben Higgins capitalized on the power play to extend the Birmingham lead to two goals. Parker Allison scored his second of the season at the 4:10 mark to cut the lead in half, on a nice play that saw Allison vacate the blue line and walk in untouched to fire home a loose puck. The Mayhem killed off two penalties before the end of the period to keep the Birmingham lead at just one goal heading into the third period.
The Mayhem had two power play chances in the third, one at the 1:30 mark of the period, and one at the 14:09 mark, but neither proved successful, and the Mayhem were unable to mount an attack in the waning seconds due to a Hugo Koch elbowing penalty with just 2:44 left in regulation. The power play has been a struggle all month long for the Mayhem, as they are now 3/30 (10%) on the man advantage since the start of December. On a positive note, the Mayhem continued their trend of battling back in close games, but unfortunately didn’t get the result tonight.
The Mayhem return home for a New Year’s Eve Party on Tuesday, December 31 at 6:00pm against the Pensacola Ice Flyers. Guarantee your seat by purchasing tickets at maconmayhem.com
#AllOutMayhem