By Fred Liggett
sports.lstribune08@gmail.com

The Kansas City Mavericks took the ice tonight in Florida looking to tie up the Kelly Cup Final series at two but the Mavs offense was kept to just a single goal and fall 4-1 to the host Everblades. The Mavericks now trail the series three games to one with game five set to be played on Saturday, Jun. 8 at 6:05 p.m. CT.

Game four was a close on both on the scoreboard and in shots on goal as the Mavs were outshot just 24-18 at the end of the night. Florida scored the game’s first goal with 8:35 left in the first period thanks to Oliver Chau. The 1-0 Florida lead would remain that way until the second period when a controversial goal by Joe Pendenza doubled the lead to 2-0. The goal came just 45 seconds into the period and the game was halted for a video review and finally the goal was allowed to stand. The Mavericks got on the board with 13:24 left in the second to make it 2-1. Justin MacPherson who was just activated by the Mavericks prior to the game got credit for the score.

The third period saw Florida up the lead to 3-1 thanks to Will Reilly’s marker with 17:04 left to play. Bobo Carpenter would add an empty netter with 1:25 left to make the final score at 4-1. The Mavericks will need to win game five to extend their season and send the series back home to Independence for game six. A big game from forward Jeremy McKenna would help as Mavs head coach Tad O’Had said of his star player, “He’s a gamer.” O’Had added “comes up in big situations.” The Mavericks and Florida return to action inside Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida for game five on Saturday night.

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