Bullfrogs Struggle Early but Eventually Pull Away

The Tampa Bay Rolling Thunder did something no Major League Roller Hockey team has done this season: skate evenly with the Bullfrogs for most of the first half.

But the Bullfrogs scored seven consecutive goals on their way to an 11-2 victory, their fifth consecutive, in front of an announced crowd of 6,704 Sunday at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

Mark Woolf scored four times and had two assists. John Hanson had a hat trick, Darren Colbourne had two goals and two assists and Darren Perkins had four assists.

The Bullfrogs, having outscored opponents, 71-11, begin a five-game trip Tuesday at Virginia (5-0).

Helped by several former Roller Hockey International players recently added to the roster, Tampa Bay battled the Bullfrogs to a 1-1 tie through most of the first half.

Much of that was due to the play of Rolling Thunder goalie Dennis Sproxton, who was sensational in the first quarter, stopping five shots. The Rolling Thunder outshot the Bullfrogs, 13-12, through the first 17 minutes of the game.

But Colbourne slapped a rebound into the net with 4 minutes 50 seconds left in the second quarter.

Hanson scored about a minute later and Colbourne scored again with 1:25 left in the first half.

Coach Todd Gordon, who said his team took the Rolling Thunder too lightly early on, changed his lines at halftime. The Bullfrogs responded with six consecutive goals to lead in the third quarter, 10-1.

“It was nice for a team to come in here ready to play,” Gordon said of Tampa Bay. “They challenged us right off the bat and we eventually responded. Not every team that shows up is going to lay down.”

Eric Lemarque scored for the Rolling Thunder at the 1:17 mark of the first quarter and Ty Hartigan scored 32 minutes later.

“I think the way they played early took us off guard,” said Tom Menicci, who scored his first goal of the year. “When you play the kinds of teams we have, you get lazy and you don’t play good. This was a good test for us going into Virginia.”

Notes

In another cost-cutting move, the Bullfrogs have turned off the jumbo television and replay cameras at the Pond, a spokesman said. . . . Chad Wagner, who did not suit up Sunday, continues to lead MLRH in penalty minutes with 49.