Ice Dogs Sniffing Finals

HOUSTON — Five players scored goals for Long Beach on Wednesday night in a 5-3 victory over the Houston Aeros that moved the Ice Dogs to within one victory of a berth in the International Hockey League championship series.

The Ice Dogs, who lead the best-of-seven Western Conference finals, 3-1, after scoring five goals for the third consecutive game, can win the series tonight in Game 5 at the Summit, where 8,278 watched Wednesday night’s game.

Stephane Morin and Patrik Augusta each had a goal and an assist for the Ice Dogs, and Domenic Pittis, Victor Ignatjev and Jozef Cierny also scored goals.

Augusta’s goal at 5:16 of the second period broke a 3-3 tie.