Cats Remain Perfect against Odessa
November 17, 2015 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release
The Wichita Falls Wildcats remained undefeated against the Odessa Jackalopes on Tuesday night, as they defeated the Jacks in Odessa for the first time of the season by a score of 3-2.
The game started with veteran winger Jonny Lazarus losing three of his teeth and being escorted to the Wildcats dressing room very early in the first period. Goaltenders Justin Kapelmaster and Dean Shatzer held their ground in the first frame, but it would be the Wildcats who would find the first opening. Three minutes after having his stick broken in half for a slashing penalty, Garrett Van Wyhe was set up by Nick Rosa wide open in front of the Odessa net. Van Wyhe buried the shot to open the scoring and get his fourth goal of the year.
The second period would begin with Lazarus back on the ice with a face-mask. The middle frame was up-and-down from start to finish. On their second power play of the night, the Wildcats conceded a shorthanded breakaway to Derek Brown, the Niagara University commit. The Jackalopes' winger deked Kapelmaster from right to left and slipped the puck between his pads to get the Jacks on the board.
A minute and a half later, the 20's Line came through and scored on a controversial goal in which the net had come off its pegs. Lazarus was credited with the goal. Just a minute later, the sea-saw game continued. Daniel Kiraly, who just recently committed to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, fired a long snap shot from the right point. Kapelmaster never saw it, and the game was all tied up heading into period three.
The Wildcats locked it down defensively in the final 20 minutes, allowing only four shots on goal from the Jackalopes. About halfway through the period, Michael Rounds took a long shot from the blue line. Shatzer kicked out the left pad to make the save, but Rounds' billet-mate Adam Goodsir slammed the puck in off the rebound to give him his team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Protecting a delicate one-goal-lead, the Wildcats held on. They improved to 4-0-0 against the Odessa Jackalopes on the season.
Kapelmaster earned 26 saves for his 10th win of the year, while Shatzer made 32 stops on his 5th loss. The Wildcats and Jackalopes meet again at the Kay Yeager Coliseum on Friday night at 7:05 pm CT.
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