By Samantha Garcia
SAN ANTONIO, TX – The San Antonio Rampage opened up their preseason slate with a 4-2 win over the Texas Stars at the AT&T Center on Friday evening.
The result will no doubt please Rampage coach Eric Veilleux, who said this week he hopes to see his team build their chemistry early on in the season. The victory showcased San Antonio’s offensive chemistry on the offensive end, scoring on the man advantage.
San Antonio opened the scoring in the first frame when Alex Belzile scored on the power play from the left wing circle, putting the Rampage up by a goal.
The Stars responded quickly in the second period as they scored just 16 seconds into the middle frame to knot the score at one goal apiece. The Silver and Black answered back as Josh Atkinson beat Texas net minder Philippe Desrosiers at the 7:47 mark. The second Rampage goal saw the visitors swap out goaltenders.
Adam Musil owned the final frame for San Antonio as he had a hand in both goals. First, he scored just over a minute into the period, putting the Rampage up two. He would then get the helper on Nolan De Jong’s tally to put the Silver and Black up 4-1. Texas stopped the bleeding with a late power-play goal from Cole Ully to finalize the scoring at 4-2.
San Antonio finished 2-for-6 on the power play, while the Rampage killed off 8-of-9 power play chances for the Stars.
“Our goals are way above last year’s standards,” Rampage goaltender Spencer Martin said. “We want to get in the playoffs and then go for a run. This year, there’s a really good vibe in the room. You’ve got two NHL teams sending guys and there’s going to be lots of call ups. Its a very competitive atmosphere.”
Up next: The Rampage are now 1-0-0-0 in the preseason and will return to the ice tomorrow evening when they travel to Cedar Park to close out their home-and-home preseason series with the Stars.
