The Texas Brahmas came out Saturday evening to a sellout crowd at the NYTEX Sports Centre and played what can be termed in one word, flat, losing to the Odessa Jackalopes 5-2.
The Brahmas scoring started early with a goal from from Topher Scott on just the Brahmas second shot of the evening.
A slashing call on Texas defenseman Matt Hanson gave Odessa the advantage they were looking for as Phillipe Plante scored on Brahmas starting goaltender David Cacciola at the 17:03 mark in the opening period on the powerplay.
It was captain Craig Minard and rookie forward Marc Belanger's costly penalties that put the Jackalopes and their 8th ranked powerplay into play in the second period.
The Brahmas special teams were unable to solve Odessa's powerplay again as the Jackalopes scored two more goals to extend their lead to 3-1.
Odessa struck again with two minutes remaining to put the Brahmas in a three goal hole.
The Brahmas powerplay, which has been a strength for Texas all season came together with only :31 seconds in the second period and put a goal past Odessa netminder Juha Toivonen.
The goal came from forward Pete Rouleau, his second in as many nights.
In the end, Odessa was too much for Cacciola and the Brahmas as they lost 5-2. Texas went 1 for 11 with the man advantage and only stopped 7 of the Jackalopes 10 powerplay opportunities.
