A late, third period push fell short as a convincing offensive performance by district-leading Frisco led to a 3-1 setback for the Rangers on Thursday at the Dr. Pepper StarCenter. Jesuit enters the Christmas break with a six-point lead for third place in the AT&T Metroplex Hockey League and locked in a three-way battle for the division lead with Frisco and McKinney.
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Sophomore
Seth Dragojevic scored his fifth goal of the season for the Rangers in the third period, moving to third on the team in scoring with his 10th point of the year. Frisco out-shot Jesuit, 31-23, opening up the contest with a 13-5 advantage in the opening period. The Rangers were able to procure eight power play opportunities, but a stringent Frisco defense held Jesuit to an 0-for-8 clip in man-up chances.
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Junior
Jack Rahlfs finished the contest with 28 saves, standing in the net for 44:18 before being pulled to give Jesuit an empty-net opportunity. Frisco opened the scoring on the power play with 28 seconds remaining in the opening period, taking a 1-0 lead into the second. Frisco added two goals in the second period to take a three-goal advantage, placing the pressure on the Rangers. Dragojevic struck at the 8:32 mark of the third, but Frisco was able to keep Jesuit in check down the stretch to secure the win.
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The Rangers enter the holiday break with a 9-3-0 record and the second-highest goal differential (+14) in the varsity gold division. Closing out the last 10 games with an 8-2-0 record, the Rangers are currently led offensively by
JonMichael Dragojevic, who has nine goals and seven assists to enter the break with a team-leading 16 points.
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Senior
Matthew Wrobel has a team-leading 10 goals and is currently second with 15 points while seniors
Bryce Clark and
Nicholas Zang join
Seth Dragojevic as Rangers with five or more goals this season. The Rangers will return to action on Jan. 3 against McKinney. The second- and third-place teams will square off at 9:15 p.m. at the StarCenter in McKinney.