ROCHESTER, MN- The Rochester Grizzlies saw their five-game win streak to start the season end in a frustrating way, dropping Saturday’s home game 5-3 to the Oregon Tradesmen. This marks the first loss for Rochester dating back to round-robin play last season in the Fraser Cup Playoffs.
Oregon would open the scoring at 8:33 of the first, as Bryce Stensrud scored his second goal of the weekend right after a power play for the Tradesmen ended. Stensrud knocked it past Lucas Henderson after a mad scramble in front of the net. This marked the first time this season the Grizzlies have trailed at any point in a game. The Tradesmen would make it 2-0 with a late power-play goal as Nathan Walker scored his first goal of the season.
Carter Watters would add to the lead for the visitors as he was left wide open in front and beat Henderson just 17 seconds into the second period. It would take until 18:25 of the second period before Rochester would get on the board. Zach Laurila managed to beat Tyler Fromolz five-hole for his second goal of the season, cutting the lead to two.
Some of that momentum carried over into the third period as Spencer Klotz cut the lead to one just 1:54 into the third period, beating Fromolz all alone in the slot. Dillon Schmidt would regain the two-goal lead for the visitors with a backhander that beat Henderson high to the glove side, making it 4-2. Per Waage managed to cut the lead to one again as he banked the puck off Tradesmen defenseman Payton Stauffacher and into the net. That’s as close as Rochester would get as on the very next shift, Christian Tavare regained the two-goal lead for Oregon, making it 5-3.
Saturday’s loss marks the first home loss at the Rochester Recreation Center for the Grizzlies dating back to Jan. 14 of last season against the very same Tradesmen.
Henderson stopped 19 of the 24 shots he saw on net while Fromolz stopped 15 of 18.
Rochester is on the road next weekend against the Peoria Mustangs for the first time this season. The Grizzlies are back home on October 8th against the Mason City Toros.