INDEPENDENCE, Missouri - The Missouri Mavericks collected a critical late-season victory over the Wichita Thunder Friday night at Independence Events Center. The two rivals squared off in a battle that featured two goals each by Missouri forwards Nick Sirota and Simon Watson. With the victory, the Mavs moved into a third place tie with the idle Bloomington PrairieThunder in the Turner Conference standings with just five games to play.
Simon Watson put the Mavs up early in the first period when he put back his own rebound to give Missouri an early 1-0 lead just one minute, 45 seconds into the opening frame. Recently acquired forward Andrew Courtney was given an assist on the goal for his first point as a Maverick. The Mavericks would double their lead five minutes later as Nick Sirota netted his 22nd goal of the season. Todd Griffith and Mike Berry added assists. The Thunder tallied their first shot of the game at the 9:56 mark of the first period which was gloved down by Robby Nolan. The Thunder would cut the Mavs' lead in half with three minutes to go in the opening frame on a power play goal from Kory Scoran. Assists went to Aaron Davis and Andrew Martens. The Mavs outshot the Thunder 13-8 in the period and were zero-for-one on the power play.
Watson notched his second goal of the game eight minutes into the second period on a beautiful backhand-to-forehand, toe-drag deke around Wichita goaltender Kevin Beech. Carlyle Lewis and Ray DiLauro were given assists on the goal. Watson's goal was the only tally scored in the period. The Mavericks outshot the Thunder 12-6 in the period.
Nick Sirota would notch his second goal of the night just under three minutes into the third period when a dump in attempt trickled past Beech, extending the Mavs lead to 4-1. Steven Later was credited with an assist on the goal. Wichita would respond later in the period with their second power play goal of the game from Matt Robinson. A.J. Gale was credited with an assist. The Mavericks would add another goal ten minutes later. A power play goal from Todd Griffith all but sealed the victory for the Mavericks. The rivalry between the two teams erupted with a few minutes remaining in regulation as Mike Wakita and Robin Richards dropped the gloves. Seconds later, Carlyle Lewis and Daniel Tetrault engaged in a scuffle. The fireworks subsided and the Mavericks skated to a 5-2 victory over the Thunder.
Robby Nolan was solid in net yet again for the Mavericks, stopping 22 of 24 shots by the Thunder. Kevin Beech made 31 saves on 36 shots for the Thunder. The Mavs went one-for-five on the power play, but struggled on the penalty kill, stopping just three of five man power advantages for Wichita.
The Mavericks have already punched their ticket to the 2011 Ray Miron President's Cup Playoffs, and the first two home playoff games are on sale now. Fans can purchase playoff tickets any of the following ways: online at www.Ticketmaster.com, over the phone at (800) 745-3000 or at the Independence Events Center Box Office. Should the Mavericks secure a top four seed, the first two home playoff games will be on Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2.
Missouri continues their four-game home stand tomorrow night against the Thunder at 7:05 p.m. The Mavericks then play host to the Mississippi RiverKings on Sunday to wrap up the weekend. Missouri will wrap up their home regular season schedule against the Thunder on March 22.
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