INDEPENDENCE, MO – Michal Stinil and Eric Roswell each scored twice to lead the Wichita Thunder to a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Mavericks. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the team. Peter Bates added four points and Beck Warm made 23 saves.

The game did not get off to a great start, as Jacob Hayhurst scored for Kansas City just before the 15-minute mark. Cade Borchardt intercepted a pass attempt in the neutral zone, then found Nolan Walker who fed the puck quickly to Hayhurst. His shot beat Warm for his seventh goal of the year.

The Thunder responded just 33 seconds later when Roswell scored his first goal of the season. Bates won a battle for the puck behind the Mavericks net, then sliding the puck to Stinil at the right face-off circle. He fired a quick pass across to the opposite circle, where Roswell blasted a one-timer by Kansas City netminder Dillon Kelley to knot the game at one.

The tally began a run of three straight goals for the Thunder. Wichita took the lead 6:15 into the second when Stinil netted his seventh goal of the season. With Wichita on the power-play, Jay Dickman passed the puck to Stinil at the right face-off circle, who blew a one-timer by Kelley to give the Thunder a 2-1 lead.

Four minutes later, Roswell extended the lead to two. Dominic Dockery passed the puck back to Roswell at the point, who lifted a wrist shot that deflected off the stick of a Kansas City player and past the Mavericks netminder for his second goal of the night.

The Mavericks were down by two, but responded with two goals in the span of 36 seconds to knot the game at three. The first came at 10:53 when Justin Nachbaur took a shot that Warm saved, but Luke Santerno put in the rebound to make it 3-2.

At 11:29, Patrick Curry tied the game at three. Another rebound opportunity allowed Kansas City to tie the score. Walker’s shot was initially saved, but Curry popped in the rebound to make it 3-3.

It looked like this game would head to the second intermission tied, but Bates gave his team the lead with just eight seconds left in the period. Kansas City was trying to clear the puck out of their own zone, but Bates read the attempt perfectly, intercepting the pass then firing a wrist shot that beat Kelley just inside the right post for his team-leading ninth goal of the year.

The Mavericks were down once again, but came out of the second intermission and tied the score 1:07 into the frame. Curry seemed to interfere with Warm, allowing Jake Jaremko to move around the Wichita netminder and put a backhand in. After further review, the goal was allowed to stand.

The game remained tied over the next 11 minutes, but Wichita regained the lead for good at the 12:40 mark when Stinil scored his second goal of the night. Ryan Finnegan moved the puck to Stinil at the right dot. He took a shot that Kelley saved, but it bounced off of his glove and rolled past the sprawling Mavericks netminder.

With 71 seconds left in the game and Kelley on the bench, Jake Wahlin put in an empty net goal to seal the victory. It was his second goal of the season.

Bates finished with a goal and three assists to lead all scores. Stinil had two goals and an assist and Wahlin finished with a goal and an assist.

Wichita will finish off the weekend when they travel to Tulsa to take on the Oilers on Sunday. The puck drops at 4:05.

Gamesheet

by Robert Pannier