Thunder Snaps Road Losing Skid On Saturday Night

INDEPENDENCE, MO (Feb. 17) – Wichita snapped its road losing skid on Saturday night, winning 5-3 over Kansas City at Cable Dahmer Arena. 

Michal Stinil and Bradley Marek each had two goals while Brayden Watts and Jay Dickman had three helpers. 

In the first, Patrick Curry opened the scoring at 11:35. During a delayed penalty, he got behind the defense and beat Beck Warm for his 16th of the season. 

At 17:48, Jeremy Masella recorded his fifth of the year with a wrist shot from the left circle. 

Kansas City answered quickly as Jeremy McKenna scored at 18:12 to make it 2-1.

Wichita tied the game five minutes into the second. Watts and Dickman won a battle behind the net. Marek was the recipient of a centering pass near the crease and he beat Jack LaFontaine for his fifth of the season.

At 13:24, Stinil recorded his first of the game to give the Thunder a 3-2 lead. Mitchell Russell got to a loose puck behind the net and tried to center a pass. The puck kicked off LaFontaine's leg right to Stinil and he found a wide-open net. 

Stinil added another just 55 seconds into the third on the power play. He hammered a one-timer from the right circle to make it 4-2.

Jacob Hayhurst cut the lead to 4-3 at 2:34. He stepped away from a defender through the slot, caught a pass at the top of the left circle and fired a shot through a screen that beat Warm. 

The Mavericks pulled LaFontaine with just under two minutes left in regulation. Marek found an empty net at 19:34 to make it 5-3.

Wichita was 1-for-2 on the power play. Kansas City was 0-for-1 on the man advantage. 

Stinil scored for the first time since January 27 and recorded his sixth multi-goal outing of the year. Marek netted his second two-game of the season. Brayden Watts has four assists in his last two games. Dickman added three helpers, giving him four assists over his last two as well.

The Thunder closes their weekend tomorrow afternoon at 4:05 p.m. against Tulsa.

Join us on Sunday, February 18 for Women In Sports Day. Come to meet NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball single game scoring leader, Ayoka Lee along with her teammates: Zyanna Walker, Ja'Mia Harris, Mikayla Parks, Taryn Sides and Imani Lester. Autograph Session will be held on the concourse at Section 125 during the 1st intermission. To purchase tickets, click HERE and use the code KSTATE.

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

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