Rampage ground Condors, 5-2

SAN ANTONIO – Rocco Grimaldi recorded his first career hat trick to propel the San Antonio Rampage (13-10-1-0) to a 5-2 victory over the Bakersfield Condors (9-11-3-0) on San Antonio’s annual Star Wars Night on Saturday at the AT&T Center. Grimaldi became the fifth Rampage player to ever reach the 50-goal mark with the club and passes Bobby Butler for the fifth-most goals (52) in franchise history. San Antonio registered a season-high 49 shots, including a game-high eight shots from Grimaldi.

Grimaldi opened the scoring 3:08 into the first period when he forced a turnover deep in Bakersfield’s zone and fired it past Condors netminder Shane Starrett. Bakersfield’s Josh Currie returned the favor 65 seconds later after collecting a rebound and sending the puck into the back of the net. The Silver and Black regained the lead at the 7:57 mark when Alex Belzile made a backdoor pass to Grimaldi for his second goal of the night.

The Rampage extended their lead 5:47 into the middle frame when Felix Girard collected a loose puck in the slot and fired it into the cage. The remainder of the period went scoreless as San Antonio took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.

Bakersfield cut into the Rampage lead 16:09 into the final stanza when Kyle Platzer hit a backhander from the left circle for his fourth goal of the season, but Jordan Schmaltz responded with an empty-net goal for the Silver and Black with 60 seconds remaining. Grimaldi completed the hat trick in the final 15 seconds with an empty-net goal of his own, tying the franchise record for the most goals scored in a single game.