Last night the Jacks faced the Amarillo Wranglers for the third time this season. The season series is tied 1-1. Both teams entered the game yesterday on a losing streak. It was also the third home game of nine in a row for Odessa.
For the second-straight game, the Jacks scored the first goal in the opening minute. This time it was the Jackalopes captain, Ryan Mansfield (9), scoring 33 seconds after the first faceoff. Odessa continued to pressure fourth-place Amarillo and was rewarded with another goal. Their second of the game came from Logan Ganz (2) after he received a pass from the Army commit, Dayne Hoyord. Amarillo would cut the deficit in half at 12:46 into the first period. Their first goal was scored by Kyle DeMarco (3) after it took a weird bounce and just rolled past Greg Orosz. The Jacks ended the first period with 18 shots on Carter Clafton, marking their most shots in any period this season. The Wranglers finished the opening period with nine shots.
The Wranglers found some momentum in the middle period and were able to tie the game with just under six minutes remaining. It came off the stick of Roman Zap (5) while on a 5-on-3 powerplay. Odessa had eight shots in the second period but was unable to reach the back of the net. The Wranglers put up 10 shots in the second period. Both teams went into the locker room after 40 minutes of play tied at two apiece.
Amarillo took the lead for the first time after Chase Davis (6) put one past Orosz within the first three minutes. Less than two minutes later, Jack Christen (1) drove toward the side of the net and played the puck back out in front. The frozen rubber ricocheted off a Wranglers player and wound up in the back of the net. The 3-3 score would remain that way throughout the rest of the third period. Resulting in 3-on-3 overtime hockey for five minutes. Odessa dominated the time of possession in the extra period, and it would pay off. After an offensive zone draw, Dayne Hoyord recovered the loose puck and dished it over to J.R. Perdion, who was wide open in the slot. The LIU commit sent a blistering wrist shot past Clafton to give Odessa the 4-3 win. The Jackalopes outshot the Wranglers, 40-32. It was the most shots in a game this season for Odessa. Amarillo went 1/5 on the powerplay and the Jacks went 0/1. Clafton is now winless in his last seven games.
The win snapped the Jackalopes five-game losing streak. The loss put the Wranglers on a three-game losing streak. J.R. Perdion had this to say about scoring the game-winning goal, “Dayne had lost the draw but beat their team to the puck and made a nice toe-drag move to then put the puck out in front for me. Then I just had an easy shot to make.” Assistant Coach Chris Francis stated this regarding the win, “Our start was great, but we got away from it in the middle period. As you can see in this league and especially in this division if you do not play the right way consistently then teams can score and get back into the game. Overall though they stuck with it, and I thought they did a great job tonight.” Game two is scheduled for tonight at 7:15 pm CDT.
Photo credit: Danne Braden
