Arroyo scores his first goal as Bruins top Ice Dogs
Published 9:58 pm Friday, October 25, 2013
Austin’s Jake Arroyo, center, is mobbed by teammates following his second-period goal Friday night against Fairbanks, Alaska at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Bruin defenseman Jake Arroyo had to wait a long time to score his first NAHL goal, but he certainly made it count as the Austin Bruins edged out the Fairbanks Ice Dogs 2-1 in Riverside Arena Friday.
Austin’s Trevor Boyd puts a shot past Fairbanks’ Johnny Mueller during the second period Friday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Arroyo, who is from Bolingbrook, Ill., connected on a one-timer from 20 feet in front of the net on a pass from Jay Dickman to tie the game at 1-1 with 31.3 seconds left in the second period.
It was Arroyo’s first score in 58 career games.
“I was hoping to get a goal last year, but it just didn’t happen,” Arroyo said. “I wasn’t really focusing on it this year and I got a chance to shoot the puck. I put it in and it felt good to finally get that one off my shoulders. It was a big goal.”
Austin (10-2 overall) took the lead for good early in the third period when Brian Bachnak, a forward from Riverview, Mich., connected on a slap-shot to make it 2-1.
The Bruins out-shot the Ice Dogs (9-5 overall) 8-4 in the third period after being out-shot 28-10 in the first two periods.
“We came out for the first five minutes and we were playing pretty good hockey. Then we didn’t play very well for thirty minutes,” Bruins head coach Chris Tok said. “In the third we started getting traffic and when guys are going to the net that makes a goalie go on their heels a little.”
Austin goalie Nick Lehr was a wall in the net as he stopped 31 shots and the only goal he allowed was a one-timer early in the second period that he had no chance of getting to. Lehr is now 9-1 and he has stopped 95 percent of the shots he has seen this season, while allowing just 1.44 goals per game.
The Bruins had tied with Fairbanks for the NAHL Showcase championship earlier this season and both teams were leading their divisions headed into Saturday’s game. Lehr knew it would be a battle.
“We really wanted to beat them and we knew we would make a statement if we beat them,” Lehr said. “We knew they were going to be a good team and they proved it tonight. We were lackadaisical at times and were were playing bad hockey, but we figured it out.”
Tok gave a lot of credit to Lehr for keeping the Bruins in the game.
“He’s been phenomenal,” Tok said. “He got left out on an island today and they were getting solid shots. They would’ve had more if he was giving up rebounds, but he did a great job.”
Austin’s Luke Dietsch looks to shoot against Fairbanks goalie Kevin Aldridge during the second period Friday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
SCORING SUMMARY
Fairbanks 0 1 0 — 1
Bruins 0 1 1 — 2
First period
No scoring
Second period
(F) Jacob Hetz (Colton Wolter, Kyle Lee) 0:56
(A) Jake Arroyo (Jay Dickman, Drew Anderson) 19:29
Third period
(A) Brian Bachnak 2:02
Shots: Austin — 18; Faribanks — 32
Powerplays: Austin — 0-for-2; Faribanks — 0-for-3
