Stars Thump Heat in 5-2 Win
Dec 12, 2015
Boxscore
Photos
Postgame Video
Shots:
Stars - 36
Heat - 34
Ritchie's Hat Trick Leads Texas in the Win
CEDAR PARK, Texas -- In just his third game of the season, Brett Ritchie tallied the hat trick to propel the Texas Stars to a 5-2 win on Saturday night over the Stockton Heat in front of 4,698 at Cedar Park Center.
The win snapped a four-game winless skid for the Stars (13-10-2-1). Along with Ritchie, Julius Honka (goal, assist), Justin Dowling (two assists) and Travis Morin (two assists) also finished with multi-point games.
The Stars close out their three-game weekend Sunday when they visit the San Antonio Rampage at 4 p.m.
The Stars took control early in the first when Ritchie tapped home a centering feed from Dowling just 1:20 into the game. Radek Faksa made it a 2-0 Texas lead on a rebound goal in the right circle at 10:40 and the Texas offense was off and running for the night.
In the second, Honka scored a power play goal at 8:08 from Morin and Curtis McKenzie extend the Texas lead to 3-0. Stockton found the scoreboard at 14:12 from Pat Sieloff, but Ritchie returned fire at 17:33 on the power play with a blast from the slot to make it 4-1.
Bryce Van Brabant added a second Stockton goal at 8:21 of the third. Ritchie competed the hat trick performance with an empty-net tally in the game's closing minutes.
John Muse earned the win stopping 32 of 34 shots. Joni Ortio suffered the loss, stopping 31.
The Stars finished 2-for-6 on the power play. Stockton was scoreless on six man-advantage chances.
| Three Stars: 1. Brett Ritchie (TEX) 2. Curtis McKenzie (TEX) 3. John Muse (TEX) |
Goaltenders: W - Muse L - Ortio |
Photo Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars