Independence, MO (Dec. 5th) - Wichita (6-13-0-1) opened up a seven-game road trip on a sour note, losing Saturday night to Missouri (19-2-0-1) by the final of 5-2 at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena. The Mavericks scored three unanswered goals in the second period en route to their seventh regulation win in the Independence Cup Series.
Ian Lowe and Donnie Harris scored power play goals for the Thunder in the losing effort.
Missouri jumped out to a two-goal cushion in the first period with goals from Kyle Burroughs and Andrew Courtney. Lowe cut the lead to one with a power goal at 18:09 for his fifth of the season. The Mavericks took a 2-1 lead into the dressing room through 20 minutes.
In the second, the Mavericks tallied three unanswered in a seven-minute span to take a 5-1 advantage. Carter Verhaeghe recorded his fourth of the season at 4:14 to make it 3-1. Bryce Aneloski and Colin Markison found the net just 1:39 apart to make it 5-1. Wichita was able to get one back at 17:54 when Andrew Courtney was assessed a five-minute boarding major. Harris put a shot through a screen that beat Josh Robinson to the blocker side that made it 5-2 after 40 minutes.
Wichita peppered Robinson in the final period with several quality scoring chances, but were unable to find the back of the net. Andy Huff got to a loose puck with Robinson coming out of his crease and slid it to the slot, but Baptista wasn't able to get his stick free and it trickled just wide of the post. The final horn sounded with the Mavericks taking a 5-2 victory.
The Thunder had several firsts when it comes to the power play. Wichita recorded its first two-man advantage marker of the season. The Thunder also scored their first power play goal away from home. Finally, Wichita had its first game recording two or more power play tallies. Harris recorded his second of the season while Martin Nemcik and Landon Oslanski had assists in their first games in a Thunder uniform.
David Shantz takes the loss stopping 20 of 25 shots. Robinson claims his 11th victory of the season, stopping 20 of 22 shots he faced.
Wichita went 2-for-4 on the power play. Missouri was 1-for-4 on the man advantage.
Wichita heads north to the Black Hills to take on the Rapid City Rush on Tuesday night at 7:35 p.m.
Individual tickets for all games are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 855-755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com.
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About the ECHL
The 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-