The Mayhem and Bulls met for the fifth time this season in a series dominated by close games and hardnosed play. Tonight was no different as these two teams battled for the season series lead with just one game left to play.
Captain Caleb Cameron started off the scoring with his 16th of the year at 6:18 of the first period on a redirect of a David Nippard shot to give the Mayhem the 1-0 lead. The period rolled on with Macon finding themselves in penalty trouble after Hunter Bersani took a 2 minute cross checking minor and Troy MacTavish was able to find a loose puck and push it under Ben Churchfield to tie the game at 1-1.
Games between these two squads have been fairly physical and the second period lived up to the billing as an altercation at 5:08 of the second period led to each penalty box being filled by three players each. After things settled down a Birmingham penalty led to an Aaron Aragon power play goal on a deflected pass that he was able to shovel underneath Austin Lotz for a 2-1 lead at 9:44 of the second period. They Mayhem continued to add to their total when Rhett Kingston took advantage of a Sacha Roy pass and went forehand-backhand-top shelf at 16:53 of the second period to increase the lead to 3-1 Macon. The celebration turned sour however, as 10 seconds later Joe Colartarci threw a puck on the net from the top of the circle and it managed to evade Churchfield to close the gap back to one goal, 3-2.
With the game going into the final frame both teams had a lot to prove, but at 3:27 of the third Scott Donahue tied the game up for the Bulls on a messy play that resulted in an easy one timer for the Bulls. Birmingham had two more power play advantages, but were unable to cash in as the game headed for overtime.
3 on 3 overtime provided a lot of back and forth action with each team looking for their opportunities, but in the end it was Troy MacTavish with his 15ht of the year to secure the win for the visiting Bulls.
Churchfield stopped 30 of 34 in the loss.
The Mayhem are back at it tomorrow night for a 6:30 matchup with the same Birmingham Bulls on Macon Trax night! The team will wear special Trax jerseys for one night only that will be auctioned after the game. Get your tickets on Ticketmaster.com or by stopping by the box office!
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