Rally Falls Short in 6-5 Loss At Fort Wayne

Fort Wayne, IN (Feb. 22nd) - Wichita fought back from two multi-goal deficits on Friday night, but lost to Fort Wayne by the final of 6-5 at Memorial Coliseum.

Steven Iacobellis led the way for the Thunder with three points while PC Labrie, Jakob Stukel and Gabriel Verpaelst each collected two.

The Thunder got on the board first for the third game in a row as Verpaelst fired a shot from the left point that got through Zachary Fucale to make it 1-0 at 7:43 of the opening frame. The Komets scored the next three to jump out to a 3-1 lead. Anthony Petruzzelli recorded back-to-back goals to make it 2-1. His first came at 8:41 on a power play. His second was at 13:09.

In the second, Trey Phillips made it 3-1 just 1:26 in as he got to a puck near the net and beat Dylan Wells. Wichita came back to tie the game at three as Steven Iacobellis and Lane Bauer scored less than two minutes apart.

At 8:50, Taylor Crunk tipped in a shot from the blue line and made it 4-3. J.C. Campagna tallied his 24th on the power play at 12:36 to increase the lead to 5-3. Justin Hodgman added another at 15:57 as he stole the puck behind the Wichita net and wrapped it past Wells. Late in the frame, Labrie cut the lead to 6-4 with a power play goal and his 17th of the year.

Dillon Donnelly brought the Thunder within one at 10:32 of the third with his first goal as a pro to make it 6-5. He fired a shot from the left point that got past Fucale. Wichita had a late power play when Campagna was sent off for delay of game, but that was quickly nullified when Jared Wilson was sent off for an unsportsmanlike conduct. The Komets held on and grabbed a 6-5 win.

Iacobellis finished with a goal and two assists. Stukel collected two points for the second night in a row.

Wichita finishes its week-long road swing in the Hoosier state tomorrow night with another visit to Indiana Farmers Coliseum to take on the Indy Fuel. starting at 5:05 p.m. CST.

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