Thunder Finishes Weekend With Loss To Rush

WICHITA, Kan. (Nov. 19) – Wichita wrapped up a three-game series against Rapid City on Sunday afternoon, falling 7-5 at INTRUST Bank Arena. 

Aaron Miller, Jay Dickman and Peter Bates each had two points in the losing effort. 

In the first, Keltie Jeri-Leon opened the scoring at 1:41. He caught a pass from Maurizio Colella near the right circle and beat Eetu Makiniemi to make it 1-0. 

The Rush added back-to-back goals in 41 seconds to jump out to a three-goal cushion. Brett Gravelle recorded his third of the season at 16:25. Jimmy Soper added a power play marker at 17:06. 

Wichita cut the lead to two with 21 seconds to go in the frame. Dickman walked off the goal line near the right post and beat Conner Murphy for his seventh of the year. 

In the second, the two teams traded goals and combined to score four times. Keanu Yamamoto was the recipient of a great pass from Mark Duarte at 4:53 and increased the Rush lead to 4-1. 

At 6:20, Dillon Boucher notched his fourth of the year on a breakaway with an assist to Dominic Dockery. 

Tyson Helgeson fired a one-timer on the next shift and made it 5-2. 

Wichita scored another late power play goal to close out a period as Aaron Miller beat Murphy at 19:24 for his first on the night to make it 5-3.

Just 10 seconds into the third, Logan Nelson got behind the Thunder defense and beat Makiniemi for his fourth of the season to make it 6-3. 

Miller got one back for the Thunder at 5:01 as he came down on a two-on-one with Xavier Pouliot and beat Murphy to cut the lead to 6-4. 

At 6:45, Jarrod Gourley beat Makiniemi off a faceoff and made it 7-4. 

Ryan Finnegan gave the Thunder some late life at 17:24 as he fired home a shot from the left circle to make it 7-5. 

Wichita called its timeout with two minutes left and pulled Makiniemi. The Thunder had a few scoring chances down the stretch, but couldn't dip into the lead.

Wichita went 2-for-3 on the power play. Rapid City was 1-for-3 on the man advantage. 

Bates finished with two helpers and took over the team-lead with 18 points. Miller notched his first two-goal outing of the season. Dickman had a goal and an assist, giving him three multi-point games on the year. Boucher has points in back-to-back games. Finnegan recorded his first goal since October 27. Lleyton Moore has points in three-straight. 

The Thunder closes their four-game homestand on Wednesday night with their first meeting of the season against the Allen Americans.

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