Big crowd sees Riggin lead Crows to 4-2 win

The big blows, however, were landed by Travis Riggin, who scored two goals, as the ScareCrows pinned a 4-2 defeat on the Iguanas before 7,011 fans at Landon Arena. The two teams meet again at 7:05 p.m. tonight.

"It was like a playoff game," ScareCrows coach Paul Kelly said. "There was a buzz in the crowd. Those are fun games to coach."

Beaudry and Lune, a former Crow, squared off last month, but the rematch was even better. Kelly knew it wouldn't take long for the two to exchange punches. The two players started talking before the face-off and started throwing punches soon after the puck hit the ice. "I figured we might as well get it right out of the way at the start. That way we can all focus on hockey and go to work," Kelly said. "I didn't tell him (Beaudry) anything until we were getting ready to go on the ice. "Basically I told him what I'd like everybody to do there, no 5- on-5, no brawl, when the puck drops square off, have at it and the rest come to the bench. "If you want to talk the talk, you've got to be able to walk the walk. To hang it on the line like Beaudry did, it takes some character. Sometimes, that's fuel on the fire for the other team, but it's also fuel on the fire for us." Beaudry didn't back off. "It was a good fight and got the guys fired up, ready to play," Riggin said. Riggin put the ScareCrows up 2-1 early in the second period on a slap shot from the top of the circle after taking a pass from Mike Rusk. "I was so tired," Riggin said. "I just wanted to get a shot on the net and get off, and it ended up being a goal. I was pretty happy with that." The Iguanas tied it on Ricky Jacobs' short-handed goal five minutes later. The ScareCrows took the lead for good less than three minutes into the third period on defender Kyle Haviland's goal. Riggin's breakaway back-handed goal with 12:58 left gave the ScareCrows a two-goal advantage. "I waited for the goalie (Ken Shepard) to slide across the net," Riggin said. "As soon as his legs opened up, I put it right through." After Dave Doucette scored on a power play 3:09 into the game, the ScareCrows Troy Frederick countered with a goal two minutes later. ScareCrows All-Star selection Brett Seguin assisted on that goal and on Haviland's, giving him a team-high 43 points. In the final two minutes, Iguanas coach Todd Gordon called three illegal sticks on the ScareCrows two on goalie Rod Branch and one on Frederick. Despite being two men short, the ScareCrows didn't permit a goal. "I'll have to file them down, the width of the shaft, before (tonight)," Branch said. "If my goal stick is illegal, so is everybody else's. I don't hold it against them, but at the same time I don't like it." Gordon apologized to Branch after the game, saying he didn't want it to detract from his good play. Slap shots Trevor Hanas, who had been out since breaking his thumb Dec. 11, returned Friday, sooner than the ScareCrows anticipated. Warning to fans: Buy tickets early. The ScareCrows reported a walk-up of more than 2,100 fans, many missing several minutes of the first period despite every ticket window being open. Shawn Randall, who has a broken thumb, had his cast removed Thursday and has resumed practicing. Trainer James Wedell said it will probably be two weeks before Randall will play. Scott Dickson and Chris Bowen were healthy, but neither ScareCrow suited up. Sergei Olympiev was placed on the two-week injured reserve list after suffering two concussions in a six-day period. Steve Adams, who played two games with the ScareCrows in late December, was released and signed with Waco in the Western Professional HockeyLeague. San Antonio 1 1 0 2 Topeka 1 1 2 4 First Period 1. San Antonio, Doucette 9 (Jacob, Tobin), 3:09 (pp). 2. Topeka, Frederick 9 (Seguin, Tsirkounov), 5:36. Penalties Lune, San Antonio (fighting), 0:02; Beaudry, Topeka (fighting), 0:02; Melichar, Topeka (hooking), 1:29; McGrath, San Antonio (roughing), 8:14; Haviland, Topeka (fighting), 16:24; Tobin, San Antonio (fighting), 16:24; McGrath, San Antonio (roughing), 16:24; LaForge, San Antonio (cross-checking), 17:43. Second Period 3. Topeka, Riggin 9 (Rusk), 5:19. 4. San Antonio, Jacob 15 (McIntyre), 10:20 (sh). Penalties Melichar, Topeka (holding), Caron, San Antonio (slashing), 8:40; McGrath, San Antonio (high sticking), 11:31. Third Period 5. Topeka, Haviland 3 (Frederick, Seguin), 2:47. 6. Riggin 10 (Desjardins), 7:02. Penalties MacIntyre, San Antonio (charging), 4:08; Coombs, Topeka (slashing), 6:02; McGrath, San Antonio (roughing), 6:02; McGrath, San Antonio (roughing, misconduct), 13:55; Hanas, Topeka (cross-checking, misconduct), 13:55; Frederick, Topeka (illegal stick), 16:37; Caron, San Antonio (interfering with goalie), 16:49; Branch, Topeka (illegal stick), 18:17; Branch, Topeka (illegal stick),18:49. Shots on goal San Antonio 7-9-8 24. Topeka 16-7-11 34. Power-play opportunities San Antonio 1-for-5. Topeka 0-for-7. Goalies San Antonio, Shepard, 15-10 (34 shots-30 saves). Topeka, Branch 6-3 (24 shots-22 saves). A 7,011. Referee David Cassidy. Linesmen Grant Thorne, Ken Vokac.

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