Mark Vradenburg nets 4 tallies in 7-6 defeat.
Mark Vradenburg continues to put up impressive numbers at the President’s Cup. On Wednesday morning, he scored a game-high four goals for the Capital Region Axemen.
The Rochester Knighthawks’ prospect sparked the Axemen’s third-period rally that fell just short in a 7-6 loss to the Oakville Titans. The resilient Axemen fell behind 7-1 after 2 periods, but stormed back in the final 20 minutes, outscoring the Titans 5-0.
“We knew the game was well within reach and knew we had to keep pushing,” he said. “We fell short in the comeback, but the effort near the end was there with the success we were getting on offense. With our defense holding teams to 7 goals, we have to be better at giving goal support on the front end.”
Vradenburg got things started with a power-play tally just 1:10 into the final frame as he converted a cross-crease pass from Aaron Foster. He added back-to-back goals to get the Axemen within 2 at 7-5 with under 5 minutes to play. After great work in the corner by Spencer Corkery, Vradenburg converted a pass from in tight at 11:30. His final tally was a highlight-reel goal as he grabbed a rebound in the slot and ripped a backhander past Titans goalie Craig Wende.
Capital Region tacked on a goal with 18 seconds to play to make it 7-6, but could not score the equalizer.
Vradenburg opened the scoring for the Axemen with a first-period marker to cut the deficit to 4-1. In the third, he powered his team with three goals to give him a team-leading eight in four games. Capital Region returns to action tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET against the Saskatoon Brewers.
“We’re looking forward to tonight’s game as we need to right this ship as much as we can,” he said. “No matter what, we still have to go out there and compete regardless of our fate come this weekend.”