BOISE, ID. – The Idaho Steelheads (20-10-3-0) fell to the Greensboro Gargoyles (8-16-5-1) 5-3 Friday night inside Idaho Central Arena. The two teams will be back in action to finish the three-game set on Saturday with puck drop set for 7:10 p.m. MST from Boise.
A Greensboro power play ignited the first goal of the contest as Deni Goure tipped a point shot from Logan Nelson which rocketed past Idaho netminder Ben Kraws at 12:07 of the first.
After carrying a 1-0 lead the second period, the Gargoyles extended their advantage early in the frame as Tyler Weiss banked a puck off Ryan Richardson in the slot just 29 seconds into the stanza. Shortly after, Idaho returned the favor on the power play as Ty Pelton-Byce fed Francesco Arcuri in front of the net for a redirect goal to bring Idaho back within one at 3:44 of the period.
Just 26 seconds later Chris Dodero found Jordan Steinmetz in the slot who dropped to a knee and ripped a one-timer past Nikita Quapp to even the score. The two goals tied the shortest span between Steelheads’ goals this season.
The Idaho momentum was short-lived however as Gargoyles captain Logan Nelson beat Ben Kraws short side for a shorthanded goal that gave the lead back to Greensboro at the 5:43 mark of the second period. The Gargoyles restored their two-goal lead with 7:31 remaining in the second period as Anthony Rinaldi converted a rebound shot from Brandon Montgomery on a 2-on-1 bid.
In the third period Idaho got back within one after Grant Silianoff scored a backdoor tally off a feed from Steinmetz to reduce the deficit at the 11:56 mark of the frame. Later on, despite a 6-on-4 advantage for the Steelheads in the final minute, Richardson netted a shorthanded empty net goal with 37 seconds remaining in the frame to seal a 5-3 Gargoyles win.
Idaho’s Ben Kraws made 37 saves on 41 shots in the loss. Greensboro’s Nikita Quapp turned aside 26 shots in the win.
ICCU THREE STARS
- Tyler Weiss (GSO, 0-3-3, +1, 2 shots)
- Jordan Steinmetz (IDH, 1-1-2, +2, 2 shots)
- Logan Nelson (GSO, 1-1-2, +1, 2 shots)