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Sports

Bloomingdale Suffers Setback With Loss To Wiregrass

The Ice Bulls can still make the playoffs.

Bloomingdale Ice Bulls (11-6-0, 22 points, fifth place, Central Division) needed one win to assure their spot in the Florida High School Hockey Association postseason. Wiregrass (11-6-1, 23 points, fourth place, Central Division), played their last game as if it was just that and may have earned a chance to play in the playoffs.

Coming into Friday's game, Wiregrass was the second most penalized team in the association, averaging 16 penalty minutes per game. With only six minutes of penalties, Bloomingdale could not take an offensive advantage as predicted.

Wiregrass sophomore Rick Sarginger would light the board first with an unassisted goal at 7:37 in the first- his 24th goal of the season. However, Bloomingdale's Anthony Puricelli added his own unassisted goal at 2:45 to tie the game at, 1-1.

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The second period defense for Bloomingdale would not protect their net-minder and allow Wiregrass to score four unanswered goals to force the Ice Bulls into a come-from-behind situation down, 5-1.

The Ice Bulls' Brian Buckner's goal (assisted by Robbins) at 13:04 in the third gave Bloomingdale early hope. Looking to quiet any attempt for a comeback, the Wiregrass defense locked down the Bloomingdale offense and would not allow another goal until 1:53 left in the third period when Tyler Harrod (assisted by Belz) scored closing the gap, 5-3.

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Losing 5-3 on Friday night was not what the Ice Bulls had in mind. The loss sets up a must-win scenario this coming Friday night against Plant (13-3-1, 27 points, second place, Central Division). This is the same Plant hockey club that handed Bloomingdale a loss in mid-October, 3-1.

Friday's tough loss sets up an interesting but simple playoff scenario for Bloomingdale.

Win and you are in.

Wiregrass currently sits as the fourth place seed in the Central Division. With Wiregrass playing their last game on Friday, they can no longer earn any additional points in the division. The top four seeds advance to the postseason.

Bloomingdale, with a win against Manatee in November would, in the worst-case scenario, earn the fourth-place seed with a win Friday. Should Manatee lose against River Ridge and the Ice Bulls win, they will win the tie-breaker with Manatee and take over the third seed in the Central Division.

Bloomingdale will host Plant high school's hockey club Friday, Feb. 11 at 10:30 p.m. at the Brandon Ice Sports Forum. Admission is free.

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