This afternoon the Jacks faced off against undefeated Springfield Jr. Blues. Yesterday the Jacks won their season opener after putting up six goals and only allowing three to the Chippewa Steel. While it is still early into the season for Odessa, they hoped to carry their momentum from yesterday’s win into their matchup today versus the Jr. Blues. The Blues have scored at least four goals in each of their three games thus far (4-1, 4-1, 7-0).
In the first period, Odessa had their fair share of scoring opportunities but unfortunately none managed to make it past Ethan Robertson. As for the Jr. Blues, they were able to beat Noah Rupprecht with almost two minutes left in the period. Their goal was scored by Joey Dosan (2) after he dangled his way through the offensive zone and snuck it past Rupprecht. After 20 minutes of play shots were in favor of Odessa, 8-7.
In the middle period, play continued to go back and forth on both ends of the ice. Although it was not until over eight minutes in when the first light was lit. Connor Smith (3) scored unassisted to put the Jr. Blues up by two. Then just before the halfway point of the period, Emerson Goode (3) was wide open on the right circle and received a beautiful pass from Evan Orr. Goode buried the puck into the back of the net to cut Springfield’s lead in half. His goal also came short handed which marks the first one for the Jackalopes this season. It was also the first time the Jr. Blues allowed a short-handed goal. After 40 minutes of play the shots were even, 14-14.
Not even three minutes into the third period and the Jr. Blues were back on the scoresheet. After Noah Holt (1) was able to beat Rupprecht. While the intensity picked up throughout the final period of regulation, the Jr. Blues were able to hold off the Jacks. Even after Odessa pulled their goalie at an attempt to score with the extra man. After the final horn sounded the shots were tied again, 21-21.
The loss is the first one for Odessa this season. As for Springfield they improve to 4-0. Tomorrow the Jackalopes will face the Maryland Black Bears. The Black Bears are currently sitting atop first place in the East Division with a record of 3-0-1 (7pts). Puck drop is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CDT. You can catch all the action live on HockeyTV.
