BATON ROUGE - The Baton Rouge Zydeco lost their inaugural game 6-3 to the Columbus River Dragons in the city's return to hockey.

Fans seemed excited for the return of hockey to the city. One hockey fan, Heath McAfoose, made a point to promise how much Baton Rouge would love the sport.

"It's the best sport there is," McAfoose said. "If you haven't been to a game, you don't know what you're missing out on."

The Zydeco started with a 2-0 deficit after the first period, and they only registered eight shots through the first two periods as opposed to the River Dragons' 41 shots on goal in the same time frame. The Zydeco finished with 18 shots on goal.

Zydeco goalie Greg Harney posted a statline of a .878 save percentage through a volley of 51 shots, which includes saving 37 of 41 shots in the first two periods.

The Zydeco cut the score from 4-1 when Scott Shorrock scored the first goal in team history in the second period; fans celebrated the moment by tossing their commemorative pucks on the ice that the team gave to the first 4,000 fans at the game. Marquis Grant-Mentis cut the lead from 4-2 shortly afterward.

Early in the third, the River Dragons scored two more goals to make the score 6-2, but Cody Rodgers added another goal with 1:13 left in the game to make the final score 6-3. They play Columbus again tomorrow at 7:30.