BOX SCORE

It was shaping up to be the Little Flyers EHL team’s afternoon.

They took an early lead. They controlled possession. They pushed the pace.

Then the wheels came off. The Connecticut RoughRiders used an offensive outburst in the second period to hand the Little Flyers a 4-2 defeat at Sono Ice House on Wednesday afternoon. 

Dylan Sangmeister and Kyle Patton scored for Philadelphia. Ryan Goodliffe made 30 saves in his second start of the season. 

PLF dominated large portions of the first period. At the 3:15 mark, Luke Headman won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Elliott Schon, who couldn’t handle the puck but managed to kick it over to Sangmeister for a quick one-timer and a 1-0 lead.

Tyler Marvil had a golden opportunity to increase the Little Flyers’ lead after he was dragged down on a breakaway midway through the first 20 minutes. Marvel was awarded a penalty shot but was unable to convert on a backhanded deke attempt.

Goodliffe stood tall in net, especially in one sequence late in the frame. The RoughRiders were coming in on a rush and Goodliffe made back-to-back chest and shoulder saves to keep them scoreless after one.

The second period belonged to Connecticut. Anthony Tavares and Walter Brown scored less than two minutes apart at 10:07 and 12:05 to make it a 2-1 game. Colin Bella added a third goal  at 17:19 to put Philadelphia down 3-1.

The RoughRiders continued their surge early in the third. Lucas Baksay converted on the power play at 2:40 after going five-hole on Goodliffe.

The Little Flyers did respond to make things interesting. Patton’s power-play tally from Josh Wilkins and Robbie Seewagen beat Adam Faust, who made 29 saves on the day, over his right shoulder at 4:08 to cut the lead down to 4-2.

Loose pucks
Seewagen has recorded at least one point in five out of the Little Flyers’ six games this season. … Philadelphia went 1 for 4 on the man advantage and killed 2 out of 3 shorthanded situations. … The Little Flyers will be back home on Sunday, Oct. 12 for a 12:30 p.m. tilt with Team Maryland at IceWorks Skating Complex.