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CHL Kansas City Mavericks

Mavericks Take Down Prariethunder, 5-2

March 16, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Kansas City Mavericks News Release


BLOOMINGTON, Illinois - The Missouri Mavericks defeated the Bloomington PrairieThunder Wednesday night, 5-2, at US Cellular Coliseum. Goaltender Gerry Festa stopped 32 of 34 shots in the win and five different Mavericks scored goals as the Mavericks moved within two points of the PrairieThunder for third place in the Turner Conference. Missouri is now 33-21-6 for 72 points on the season with six regular season games remaining. The Mavericks will head home for their final home stand of the regular season in which the team will play four home games in five nights starting on Friday night against the fifth-place Wichita Thunder.

"The boys come out fired up," said Mavericks' Head Coach Scott Hillman. "We had a great first period and Gerry (Festa) was very strong in net in the first. It was a great team game."

Missouri scored three goals in the first period en route to a 3-1 lead after the first 20 minutes of play. Brandon Coccimiglio netted his second goal of the season at the 3:40 mark to give the Mavericks an early 1-0 lead. He was assisted by Toby Lafrance and Steven Later, but the PrairieThunder quickly answered on Brett Holmberg's first of two goals at the 5:06 mark.

It was all Mavericks for the remainder of the first as Todd Griffith notched an unassisted goal at 14:45 and Later made it 3-1 on a five-on-three power play goal at 15:52. Later was assisted by Ray DiLauro and Nick Sirota, and the Mavericks had a two-goal lead and a 16-7 edge in shots through the first 20 minutes.

The Mavericks picked up where they left off in the second period when Lafrance and Sirota scored goals just 59 seconds apart. Lafrance buried a rebound on assists from Coccimiglio and Ryan Jardine at 4:03, and Sirota scored on assists from Mike Berry and DiLauro at the 5:02 mark. Just after the Mavericks took a 5-1 lead, the PrairieThunder scored on Holmberg's second of the night on a power play. His goal came at the 5:45 mark of the second period, and despite outshooting the Mavericks 14-10 in the period, the score remained 5-2 through the first two periods.

Festa stopped all 13 shots he faced in the third period as Bloomington tried to get back into the game. Missouri held on and won by the three-goal margin, 5-2.

The Mavericks finished 1-for-2 on the power play and killed two of Bloomington's three power play chances. DiLauro, Later, Lafrance, Coccimiglio and Sirota all had two points in the winning effort. Festa allowed two goals marking the fourth time in his last five games in which the Mavericks' goaltender has allowed two or fewer goals.

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 will return home for a four-game home stand starting on Friday night against the Wichita Thunder on March 18. The Mavericks will host Wichita again on Saturday night, and the Mississippi RiverKings on Sunday, March 20. Missouri will wrap up the home schedule against the Thunder on March 22.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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