Thunder Close Road Trip with Loss in Kansas City
INDEPENDENCE, MO – Shane Starrett made 22 saves and five different players scored goals as the Kansas City Mavericks defeated the Wichita Thunder on Friday, 5-2. Nick Pastujov, Jake McLaughlin, and Casey Carreau each had a goal and an assist for Kansas City. Gavin Gould and Austin Crossley scored the goals for Wichita. The loss was the third in a row for the Thunder.
Kansas City scored the only goal the first period, as Ryan Harrison scored his fourth goal of the season 1:36 into the contest. Pastujov made a great pass to Harrison near the goalmouth, who put a one-timer by Roman Basran.
The Mavericks extended their lead to three, scoring the only two goals of the second period. Pastujov scored on the power-play at 4:36 to make it a 2-0 game. McLaughlin took a shot that Basran saved, but Pastujov put the rebound in for his 17th goal of the year.
With 3:46 left in the second, John Schiavo extended the lead to three. He intercepted a clearing pass in the high slot, then moved in on Basran, beating him with a wrist shot for his sixth goal of the year.
Kansas City continued to pour it on, extending the lead to four 5:29 into the third. Hugo Roy passed the puck to Carreau, who was just below the left face-off circle. He fired a sharp angle shot that beat Basran for his first goal of the season.
At 10:56, Gould finally got Wichita on the board. Cole MacDonald took a shot that hit off the chest of Gould and past Starrett for his third goal of the year.
Kansas City restored the four-goal advantage a little over two minutes later when McLaughlin scored his fourth goal of the season. McLaughlin took a shot from the point that found its way through traffic and by Basran to make it 5-1.
With 6:16 left, Crossley closed out the scoring with his second goal of the season. Much like McLaughlin’s goal, Crossley took a shot that somehow found its way through traffic and in to make it 5-2.
The loss dropped the Wichita Thunder to 27-28-5, one point behind the Allen Americans for fourth place in the Mountain Division. Wichita will host the Kansas City Mavericks (27-24-8) on Saturday. The puck drops at 7:05.
