Odessa, TX – The Odessa Jackalopes beat the Lone Star Brahmas in a rare exhibition game in Odessa. The matchup took place at the Music City Mall instead of the normal Ector County Coliseum.
Odessa would take the game 4-3 in a shootout after goals from Connor Stuart, Petr Miko, Spence Van Tiem, and the game-winner from Matteo Menotti on the final chance. Jackalopes goaltender, Brett Epp, stopped 27 shots en route to the victory.
There was a 35-minute delay before we could get started, but when it did, the teams took off, back-and-forth, trading shots until someone broke through.
Kickstarting the hearts of Jacks fans everywhere, Stuart scored at the 14:29 mark of the first period, assisted by newly named captain, Rune Kirby. Once Kirby hit Staurt with a pass, it was Stuart’s speed and quick release past the Brahamas’ goaltender, Ajay Fernandez for the 1-0 lead.
The Brahmas netted back-to-back goals only 19 seconds apart, beginning with Josh Domin’s flip to the top shelf at 14:29, and finishing with Mick Heneghan’s wrister through traffic at the 14:48 mark.
Odessa’s Miko would go on to tie the game just under four minutes later for his second goal of the pre-season.
The Brahmas’ Aiden Spellacy would have luck on his side as with 1.3 left, he swatted at a loose puck and was able to help it find it’s way past Epp for the go-ahead goal at the end of 2.
1:49 into the final period of regulation, Spence Van Tiem worked his heart out to get a loose puck in front of Fernandez to bury it for the tie game.
A scoreless overtime and five straight misses in the shootout left Matteo Menotti to the rescue. Menotti put on his best dancing shoes, pulling off every move in the book to fool Fernandez into a point of no return.
The Jacks victory is their first of the preseason in the final preseason bout of the 2017-18 campaign.
The official regular season begins on September 16th when the Jackalopes travel to Amarillo to take on the Bulls.
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 log 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 —
