MAVS WINLESS STREAK REACHES FOUR GAMES, FALL TO THUNDER 4-1
Nov. 23, 2011
By Patrick Armstrong
Missouri 1-4-2 in last seven games
WICHITA, Kansas – The Missouri Mavericks winless streak reached four games (0-3-1) in a 4-1 loss to the Wichita Thunder Wednesday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. Thunder forward Matt Robinson had a pair of goals and goaltender Adam Russo stopped all but one of the Mavericks’ 26 shots on goal. Alex Bourret had three assists for the Thunder and a total of four Wichita players had multiple-point games. After winning the first six games of the season, the Mavericks are now 1-4-2 in their last seven games and 7-4-2 overall. The Mavericks will return home for their next game this Friday night at Independence Events Center against the Allen Americans.
“We have through the weekend to fix things or changes will be made,” said Mavericks’ Head Coach Scott Hillman.
Wichita jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back. Robinson scored the opening two goals for the Thunder with the first coming on a nice backdoor pass from Thomas Beauregard at the 2:43 mark. Robinson tallied a power play goal at 5:58, and the Thunder scored another goal just 10 seconds later to make it 3-0 in the blink of an eye. Aaron Davis notched the third goal for Wichita on assists from the Hemingway brothers (Colin and Brett). Through one period, the Thunder took the three-goal lead into the first intermission and held a 15-5 edge in shots over the Mavericks.
The Mavericks and Thunder battled back and forth in the middle period and the Mavericks finally got a puck past Wichita’s goaltender Russo at the 19:14 mark of the period. Mavericks’ defenseman Mike Wakita had his first goal of the season while the Mavericks had an extra attacker on the ice due to a delayed penalty to the Thunder. Wakita took a feed from Ed McGrane and slapped a shot from the left circle to beat Russo. Shots in the period were much closer but the Thunder still held the edge at 13-12 and 28-17 in total.
Brett Hemingway regained the three-goal lead for Wichita at the 13:07 mark of the third period when his shot from behind the goal line banked off a Mavericks’ defenseman and into the net. Bourret and Daniel Tetrault assisted on the play. It proved to be the final goal of the game and the Thunder improved to 3-1-0 against the Mavericks this season.
After the Mavericks took a 3-0 lead against the Thunder in their last game on November 12, Wichita has scored nine of the last 11 goals in the season series. Thunder goaltender Adam Russo stopped 25 of 26 shots in the win and Charlie Effinger stopped 34 of 38 shots in his second regulation loss of the season (5-2-1).
The Mavericks head home to face the Allen Americans on Friday night at Independence Events Center. It marks the first time Allen has come to Independence since the Mavericks’ inaugural season. Family Four Packs are available for the game starting at just $80 and the Mavericks will open up the Team Store at 9:30 a.m. Fans can also come at 10 a.m. to watch the morning skate. Tickets for all regular season games are on sale now via Ticketmaster. Call (816) 252-7825 for more information or visit www.MissouriMavericks.com.
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