BURLINGTON – A difficult task stood in front of the Squirt Boston Brahmas (2-4-0) when they traveled to the Ice Palace in Burlington on Sunday. For the trends of the 2015 season to continue and to get themselves back to the .500 mark, the Brahmas would have to knock off the top seeded South Middlesex Coyotes (5-1-0).

The young Brahmas did not cower in facing the division’s top offense and defense, but in the end the Coyotes talent shined through in a 5-0 victory.

Despite the difficult task in front of them, the Brahmas stood tall in keeping the game close for much of Sunday’s contest. The South Middlesex offense did have a noticeable edge in maintaining possession of the puck, keeping it away from their guests, but the Brahmas defense matched them, yielding very few scoring chances.

A Dillon O’Reilly goal early in the first and then one from Sam Taber early in the second were the only strikes managed by the Coyotes offense against the staunch Boston defense through 30 minutes in spite of the increased pressure.

With the Coyotes leading 2-0 and just one period left to play, there was more back-and-forth action in the third than in either the first or the second. Unfortunately for Boston, however, they were not the only team to see improved offensive play in the game’s final 15 minutes. South Middlesex more than doubled their goal total, pouring in three in the third to put a five on their side of the scoreboard. A second goal was credited to Taber and one each for Max Tong and Laz Giardina went on the score sheet to account for the remainder of the Coyotes offense.

To make matters worse, while the Brahmas were getting more chances in the third, Coyotes netminder Trent Scarbro picked up where battery mate Jack Munini left off after coming on in the second, keeping the clean sheet going. It was the second shutout posted by the Coyotes goaltending tandem this season after Scarbro survived the Brahmas threats to secure the 5-0 victory.