North Richland Hills, TX – The Odessa Jackalopes (12-10-2-1) clawed their way back from a 3-0 deficit before the Lone Star Brahmas (15-8-2-2) were able to finish it off in overtime.. This was the final matchup taking place between the two teams at the Nytex Sports Centre this regular season.
The Brahmas got three goals in the first period off of two power plays and a breakaway to take a 3-0 lead after one frame. Drew Lennon started it off as he tossed a shot through from 10 feet in front of the net on a power play to take the 1-0 lead just over the halfway point in the period for his second tally on the season.
Austin Bottrell and Ture Linden saw an odd-man rush opportunity and took advantage. Bottrell fed one to the net from the left boards, and without a real angle, Linden slaps it between the wickets of Brett Epp. Kimball Johnson and the Brahmas get one more as Johnson’s power play shot bounces off of Noah Poindexter, and takes a bad bounce past Epp’s outstretched glove.
Joey Rosa’s boarding call was what led to the second power play goal for Lone Star, but a fight followed suit with Julian Biondo. Biondo got one punch on Rosa before Joey took over the fight the rest of the way, eventually drawing Brahma blood before taking Biondo to the ice.
The Jackalopes turned up the intensity in the second, outshooting the Brahmas 15-5, but only netting one. The goal came with only 2:39 left in the middle frame as Evan Somoza stickhandled his way right to left behind the cage before feeding it back to the weak-side for Peyton Frantti to lift it past Mitchell Gibson, bringing the Jackalopes back within two.
Odessa would net two more in the third to tie the game. It started as Matt Brown fed one in front of the net where Petr Miko took a tough wrister to slide it past the kick of Gibson 2:54 into the period, before Blake Bride fought his way into a goal only three and a half minutes later to tie it up. Matt Brown had a chance with a minute and a half left in regulation, and missed the net by about 3 inches, leading to overtime.
After both teams sent plenty of shots near the net in overtime, it would be the Brahmas who come out on top tonight. Ture Linden and Austin Bottrell had a 2-on-0 chance between the circles as Linden nets one to win the game for Lone Star.
Brett Epp made 22 saves in the loss, while his counterpart stopped 34 shots of his own. Odessa’s power play was 1-2 on the night, while Lone Star finished up 2-3. The Jackalopes take away 3 out of 4 possible points this weekend in a tough fought weekend.
Odessa returns to action next week when they take the long trek to Topeka, Kansas for a three-game bout with the Topeka RoadRunners next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Catch all the action on Classic Rock 102.
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 —
