Kerbashian Nets Hat Trick in 7-4 Loss to Allen

Allen, TX (Feb. 27th) - Allen (31-19-3-2) scored four unanswered goals down the stretch to pull away from Wichita (11-33-6-5) in a high-scoring 7-4 victory on Saturday night at the Allen Event Center. After last night's nail biter, the two teams combined for 11 goals on 57 shots. Wichita falls to 0-8-2-0 in the season-series.

Kale Kerbashian led the way with his first hat trick of the season while Kenton Miller finished with a goal and two assists.

In the first 11 minutes of the opening frame, the two teams combined for five goals on 13 shots. Allen got things started with a goal from Chris Crane three minutes in as he fired a shot from the left circle through a screen. Kerbashian tied it at 4:35 with a wrap-around attempt, beating Joel Rumpel to the spot to make it 1-1. The Thunder grabbed their first lead with a goal from Kenton Miller at 7:18, tipping home a shot from the blue line from Donnie Harris. Kerbashian added his second of the game at 9:14 when a shot-pass clicked off his skate at the left post from Oslanski and re-directed in. Crane pulled the Americans within one at 10:52 with a shot from the edge of the right circle and his 20th of the season to make it 3-2.

Eric Roy tied the game in the second during a two-man advantage. He unloaded a one-timer from the deep slot through traffic for his 11th of the year. The Thunder re-gained the lead with 17 seconds left in the frame as Kerbashian banged home a rebound for his third of the night.

In the third, Allen found the net four times with a pair coming from Aaron Gens. His first came at 5:45 that tied the game at four. His second came at 13:46 when he fired a shot from the blue line that got past Adrien Lemay through traffic. Vincent Arseneau made it 6-4 with a rebound goal at 17:20. Crane capped off the scoring with an empty-netter less than a minute later to seal things for the Americans.

Kerbashian's hat trick is the second for a Thunder player this season. He also led the Thunder with five shots on net. Lemay suffers the loss, stopping 27 of 33 shots. Rumpel claims the win, stopping 17 of 21 shots he faced.

Wichita went 0-for-2 on the power play. Allen was 2-for-8 on the man advantage.

Wichita closes out its three-game set against Allen tomorrow afternoon at 4:05 p.m.

Individual tickets are on sale now. Don't delay! Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com.

Stay up-to-date on all the news during the season by visiting www.wichitathunder.com.

About the ECHLThe ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 28 teams in 20 states and one Canadian province for its 27th season in 2014-15. There have been 541 players who have started their career in the ECHL have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, including 29 who made their NHL debuts in the 2013-14 season. The ECHL had affiliations with 26 of the 30 NHL teams in 2013-14, marking the 17th consecutive season that the league had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.

-Thunder-