Odessa, TX – A two-goal deficit means nothing to the Odessa Jackalopes (17-11-2-1) as they clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Amarillo Bulls (11-11-4-3) in a shootout 3-2 on Friday night at the Ector County Coliseum. The win was the Jacks first against Amarillo on the season.
Amarillo got the scoring off 1:26 into the opening frame as Aaron Swanson netting the opening goal for the lead. Nick Wilson laid a monster hit into Steven Ipri, as Jonny Russell jumped Wilson from behind, prompting a fight. Wilson provided the majority of punches, but Russell ended up falling onto Wilson, sending Wilson to the penalty box.
Later in the frame, Lucas Andersson cleared a puck and turned to protect himself by knocking down the aggressor, but the official blew the whistle as Blake Bride was in the midst of a breakaway, sending Joey Rosa to the box for elbowing. This would lead to a power play goal for Amarillo as a give-and-go on a 2-on-1 breakaway was scored through the five-hole of Brett Epp by Alex Peterson.
The Jackalopes clawed their way back from a 2-goal deficit that got kicked off by Evan Somoza. In an odd series of events that had us at four straight minute of power play time, the Jacks took advantage. Somoza was fed a pass from James Crossman, and took it coast to coast before burying it past Jason Grande for the first Odessa goal of the night.
Halfway through the 3rd period, we saw another set of penalty after penalty, leaving the Jacks shorthanded for 10 seconds. It wouldn’t matter as James Crossman broke into the offensive zone and the duo of Blake Bride and Matt Brown wore down Grande to his stomach, before Brown fluttered one past Grande for the equalizer.
A scoreless overtime brought us to a shootout for the second time in three games for Odessa, as the first five shooters missed. Somoza wouldn’t be denied however, showing off his best Patrick Kane stickhandling abilities, before shoveling one more past Grande for the game-winner.
Brett Epp played outstanding tonight, making 31 saves in the win while Grande made 40 of his own, but took the loss.
The Jacks and Bulls will swap places, with the series taking place at the Amarillo Civic Center on Saturday and Sunday night. Make sure to catch all the action live on Classic Rock 102 and Hockeytv.com.
The 2017-2018 Odessa Jackalopes single game tickets are on sale now! To reserve your seats, contact the Jackalopes’ ticket office today at 432-552-7825 or hop on to www.jackalopes.org for more information.
Also, be sure to follow the Jackalopes on Twitter and Facebook (@LetsGoJacks), Instagram (odessajackalopes), and add us on Snapchat (odessajacks) all year long.
— ODESSA JACKALOPES —
