Sports stats



NAHL Odessa Jackalopes

Wichita Falls prevails in ten-round affair

December 2, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Odessa Jackalopes News Release


ODESSA, TX - In the first of a pair of weekend games at Ector County Coliseum, the Wichita Falls Wildcats rallied back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to defeat the Odessa Jackalopes 4-3 in a ten-round shootout on Friday night. With the overtime loss, the Jacks improve to 8-12-4 on the season and with 20 points, sit one point shy of the Corpus Christi IceRays, alone in fifth place in the NAHL's South Division standings.

The Jackalopes were firing on all cylinders early on Friday as Sheldon Taylor and Tyler Poulsen staked Odessa to a 2-0 lead after one period thanks to a pair of power play goals. Wichita Falls fought back in the second however, courtesy of a breakaway tally by Patrick Yudez and a fluky, bad-angle score from Zach Pochiro. After the third period slid by mostly scoreless, Lawrence Cornellier wired his first goal of the season, an unassisted wrister past Wildcats netminder Matt Leon at 14:56 of the third to give the Jacks a late 3-2 lead, but another Odessa advantage gave way to one more Wildcat rally, as with less than three minutes to play in the game, Wichita Falls forced overtime on a goal from Wildcat captain Brad Shumway.

After a scoreless overtime period, the Jacks headed to a shootout for the third time in their past four games and after ten rounds, fell to the ‘Cats on a five-hole, seeing-eye snapper from Pochiro. Odessa goaltender Connor Hellebuyck turned in another steady performance in net, stopping 46 of the 49 shots he faced through regulation and overtime and denied eight of ten Wichita Falls players in the shootout. Next up for the Jackalopes, it's the tail end of a two-game series with Wichita Falls Saturday, with the opening faceoff set for 7:05 pm at Ector County Coliseum.

The Odessa Jackalopes celebrate their 15th Anniversary in 2011-12 and drop the puck on their inaugural campaign as a member of the North American Hockey League. Season tickets, mini-plans, and single game tickets are available by calling (432) 552-7825 or by visiting the Jacks online at www.jackalopes.org.

Be sure to follow the Jackalopes on Twitter @LetsGoJacks all season long and don't forget to ‘Like' the official "Odessa Jackalopes" fan page on Facebook.

Check out the Odessa Jackalopes Statistics

• Discuss this story on the North American Hockey League message board...

North American Hockey League Stories from December 2, 2011


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.

OurSports Central