On Saturday, Odessa faced New Mexico to close out the weekend series. The Jacks took game one by a score of 6-1. Half of which were scored by Emerson Goode to mark his first career hat trick. The win also put Odessa on a three-game win streak.
New Mexico started out the opening period by scoring the first goal at the 2:36 mark. It came from their captain, William Howard (22), while they were on the powerplay. It was the first time all weekend that New Mexico had a lead. Two minutes later though, William Marshall (4) would find the loose puck and put it past William Craig to tie things up at one apiece. Later in the period, the Ice Wolves were again on the man advantage, just like before it was Howard (23) netting the goal. The first period would end with the Ice Wolves leading 2-1. They were also outshooting the Jacks, 17-9.
The Ice Wolves wasted no time adding to their lead as they scored 1:23 into the middle period. Their third goal came from Hunter Hastings (7). The Jackalopes would cut the lead in half with under two minutes remaining in the period. Just after the powerplay for Odessa had expired, Dayne Hoyord (4) found the back of the net for his second of the weekend. However, the Ice Wolves would go back up by a pair with only 17 seconds remaining in the period. The goal came from Yusaku Ando (8) from the top of the slot. New Mexico now had a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes of play and was outshooting Odessa, 24-16.
In the final period, Odessa was giving it their all, to try and tie the game. However, New Mexico would increase their lead to 5-3 after Sully Scholle (19) sent the puck past Greg Orosz. The Jacks would respond minutes later as Emerson Goode (22) was able to fire a shot past Craig. With time winding down, the Jacks pulled Orosz to send on an extra attacker. It would pay off as Trevor Taulien notched his first of the season after taking a shot from the point. It would put Odesa within one of New Mexico with only a minute left to go in regulation. Odessa would pull Orosz again but unfortunately was unable to replicate their success. Giving New Mexico a 5-4 win. The Jacks outshot the Ice Wolves, 32-31. Odessa went 0/3 on the powerplay and New Mexico went 2/4.
It is now the third time that the Ice Wolves have scored five goals on Odessa this season. The last four losses the Jackalopes have had were all by one goal. Head Coach Scott Deur had this to say following the loss, “It was a challenge. We had some goals get disallowed that turned out to be momentum swingers and we were undisciplined with our sticks that put them on powerplays. It was nice though to see us score while having the 6-on-5.” Odessa is still in sixth place with 37 points and will be back on home ice this weekend to face the Shreveport Mudbugs, who are tied with New Mexico for third at 45 points. Both games this weekend are scheduled for 7:15 p.m. CDT.
Photo credit: Danne Braden
