Stars Drop 4-0 Decision in Preseason Opener

Texas opened their preseason 3-in-3 schedule with a shutout loss to the San Antonio Rampage. The Rampage, now affiliated with the Florida Panthers, took it to the Stars early in the first and didn't let up throughout the game.

San Antonio opened the scoring just 78 seconds into the match with a nifty pass from Anthony Luciani behind the net finding Eric Selleck in the slot for the 1-0 lead. THe goal came on the first shot of the game for either team. Bracken Kearns netted another for the Rampage at the 7:42 mark with San Antonio winning an offensive zone faceoff and scoring shortly thereafter. Oberg and Luciani picked up assists on the play. The first period scoring ended with Joe Devin potting San Antonio's third at 11:23. San Antonio scored on three of their first five shots.

"I think we were a little sloppy defensively," said Coach Pyle after the game. "We've got some turnover and some young guys who are getting used to a different tempo and a different league."

From that point on, Texas played a much more responsible defensive game. "I thought we battled well back in the second. I think we played OK in the third," said Pyle. Tyler Beskorowany finished the night with 25 saves on 29 shots, garnering 23 saves on 24 shots after the first 3 goals allowed.

The thing to keep in mind is that it is the preseason. Many of the players in the lineup this evening will not be on the final roster and will play the majority of the year in the CHL or ECHL. Training camp and preseason are places where guys are put into tough positions that they may or may not excel at.

"In the end, it's a starting point. Bottom line, we played pretty hard but didn't have the poise we needed at certain times."

Tonight's lines:
Gazdic-Fraser-Arnason
Neal-Roman-Layton
Bordson-Lukacevic-King
Schultz-Hedden-Garbutt

Spang-Dillon
Benn-Labrie
Berube-Coyle

Beskorowany

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
There are too many variables here to keep track of all of the scratches, injuries and call-ups. I will resume this section in the regular season.

Jordie Benn wore the "C" tonight, and Dan Spang and Luke Gazdic wore "A"s.

In case you hadn't noticed, Texas played four forwards on the power play. Said Pyle: "I thought Lukacevic was playing really well, so I wanted to reward him [with some power play time]."

Tonight's attendance was not announced.

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