Milwaukee, WI – The Milwaukee Admirals moved into third place in the West Division as they needed a shoot-out to beat the Houston Aeros 4-3 Sunday afternoon at the Bradley Center. Goaltender Dov-Grumet Morris shut down five of Houston players in the seven-round shootout while Jason Guerriero potted both of his attempts.

The Admirals and Aeros entered the game sharing the fourth place spot in the West Division with 85 points each. During the first period, both teams played with a level of intensity which illustrated they understood what was on the line. Houston had a tough go of it as Milwaukee dominated the first 20 minutes. The lone goal of the period put Milwaukee up 1-0 as Mike Santorelli lit the lamp at the 11:09 mark.

The second period turned out to be a role reversal of sorts as Houston stepped up and forced Milwaukee to rely on their defensive units. The Aeros evened the score at the 8:12 mark when Ross Carlson took a shot from the right face off circle the beat Grumet-Morris. Despite hard play, the Admirals were unable to one up the Aeros and left the ice tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes of play.

The Aeros struck first in the final stanza with a goal from Ryan Hamilton just 3:39 in and Houston took their first lead of the game. The Admirals matched the Hamilton goal however with just less than ten minutes to go in the game. Antti Pihlstrom caught Houston netminder Anton Khudobin out of position and fired the puck from the goal line and it ricocheted off the Aeros’ goalie and into the net at 11:17 and the score was tied at 2-a-piece.

The Admirals regained their lead with a late goal from John Vigilante, who sprinted up the ice and sent a wrist shot to the back of the net from the left face off circle at the 17:21 mark. The Aeros would not go quietly however, and utilized an extra attacker to get the best of Milwaukee’s defense. At 17:52, just 31 seconds after Vigilante’s goal, Hamilton notched his second goal of the night to tie the score at three.

The game was forced into overtime, although the five extra minutes yielded no change in the score as goalies Grumet-Morris and Khudobin held on to keep their teams in the game and Milwaukee and Houston headed to a shootout.

Guerriero and Houston’s Shawn Belle were the only successful shooters in the regulation five rounds, and two extra shooters were needed to settle the score. Guerriero and Ellison both beat Khudobin, while Grumet-Morris denied Morten Madsen, Houston’s seventh shooter, to give the Ads the victory.

The win meant third place for the Ads in the West Division and an overall 87 points, and Houston now shares the fourth place seat with San Antonio at 86 points. Pihlstrom’s goal was his 24th of the season and he once again joined Ellison as top scorer for the Admirals.

The Admirals are on the road this week to take on the San Antonio Rampage in match ups that will likely influence playoff runs in the West Division. They return to the Bradley Center Saturday April 5th to face Houston once again. Fans can purchase tickets to any Admirals home game by calling the Admirals office at (414)227-0550 or by logging onto www.Ticketmaster.com.