Big Third Period Pushes Wichita Past Iowa

WICHITA, Kan. (Oct. 29) – Bradley Marek scored with 55 seconds left in regulation to help Wichita take a 4-2 victory over Iowa on Sunday afternoon at INTRUST Bank Arena. 

Wichita recorded a season-high four goals in the third period after trailing for much of the contest.

Jay Dickman led all scorers with three points while Brayden Watts and Marek each had two. Beck Warm earned his second win of the weekend, making 32 saves. 

Midway through the first period, Davis Koch gave the Heartlanders a 1-0 lead. Will Calverley won a battle behind the net, fed a pass to the slot and Koch beat Warm over the glove for his first of the season.  

Warm made some key saves midway through the second to keep the game close. Iowa finished with 14 shots in the frame while Wichita had 11.

In the third, the Thunder finally got on the board and evened things up. Dickman got a piece of a shot from Marek near the front of the net at 2:38 to level the score. 

Dillon Boucher recorded his first pro goal at 3:57, which gave the Thunder their first lead of the game. He intercepted a clearing attempt at the left circle and beat Peyton Jones off the post to make it 2-1. 

The Heartlanders responded at 9:52 as Maxim Cajkovic found a rebound at the right circle and beat Warm, who was down-and-out along the ice to tie it at two. 

Marek tallied the game-winner at 19:05 when Michal Stinil intercepted a pass at the Iowa blueline, came in on his off-wing and found Marek in the slot. He fired a shot past Jones for his fourth of the season to make it 3-2.

Jones was lifted for the extra attacker, but Watts put the game away with an empty-netter at 19:38 to make it 4-2.

Wichita went 0-for-5 on the power play. Iowa was 0-for-3 with the man advantage.

The Thunder improves to .500 and takes six points over the weekend. Marek notched his first game-winner of his career and finished with a goal and an assist. Dickman had a goal and two helpers. Watts recorded a goal and an assist for the second-straight game. 

Wichita hits the road for the next six games starting on Wednesday night with its only visit to Boise to face the Idaho Steelheads.

Single game tickets are now on sale. Buy tickets for any game this season and come watch the 32nd year of Thunder hockey. Click here to purchase today.

The 2023-24 schedule is now available. Start planning now as we get ready for our 32nd year as a professional franchise and 10th in the ECHL. Click here to learn more and click here to download the schedule right to your calendar.

Season tickets for the 2023-24 season are on sale now. Save money by reserving your seats for all the fast-paced, hard-hitting action of every game. Click here to learn more.