On Saturday, Sept. 6 at Landon Arena, the whistle blew in the first 20 seconds of the game for a roughing call on Austin Swingle, an Aberdeen Wing forward. Just seconds after the second puck drop of the game, the whistle to blew again for the first fight of the game. Things, however, settled down after this exciting start.

With 8:12 to go in the first period, RoadRunners’ forward Sly Sutter whipped the puck between the opposing goalie’s pads and into the back of the net for the first goal of the pre-season game.

About four minutes later, the RoadRunners’ forward Willie Brown struggled to get past three defenders and the goalie, but managed to lunge the puck past them and into the net with 4:26 left in the first period, making a two point lead for the RoadRunners.

In the second period, the RoadRunners moved faster, passed the puck more and kept possession of the puck for the majority of the period, but turning over the puck allowed the Wings to ultimately score three shots in six minutes for the lead.

No goals were scored on either side during the third period, ending the game with an Aberdeen Wing win of 3-2.

“I didn’t think we played a bad second period honestly,” said RoadRunners head coach Scott Langer. “We were all over. There was a good portion of the period that we didn’t leave their zone. There were just a couple mistakes that we gave up three goals on six shots. And that’s not going to win a hockey game. There were good goals, they were nice plays they made and that’s just how it goes.”

Sutter and Brown made the goals for the RoadRunners and both are returning from last season.

“I thought [our returners] did good tonight,” said Langer. “They did things our younger guys weren’t doing [like] back checking and some of the stuff that takes second effort and I think it was good for some of the younger guys to see that.”

These games gave the RoadRunners coaching staff an idea of what their team will look like and what they will have to work on.

“I don’t know if a lot has to change in terms of the practice structure,” said Langer. “I just think the way to we do it has to get better. We just have to have better practice habits.”

Exhibition games or pre-season games are there to help the team find their mistakes and give the players time to correct their mishaps.

The RoadRunners will face the Corpus Christi Ice Rays at 7:05 p.m. at Landon Arena Sept. 12 and 14.