INDEPENDENCE, MO- The Cincinnati Cyclones (18-18-4-0) fell to the Missouri Mavericks, 5-4, on Wednesday night. Forwards Jordan Sims, Nick Huard, Peter LeBlanc, and Shane Walsh scored the goals for the Cyclones.
The Mavericks struck early in this one, receiving goals from forward Kyle Schempp and defenseman Kevin Tansey to take a 2-0 lead 10:09 into the opening frame.
Cincinnati was not deterred and pulled to within a goal later in the period when forward Dominic Zombo took possession of the puck off of a turnover and found Sims in the high slot, and he rifled it past Missouri netminder Eamon McAdam to cut the Cyclones’ deficit in half at 2-1 through 20 minutes.
The Cyclones tied the game early in the second period when defenseman Arvin Atwal launched a shot from the point that was tipped into the net by Huard, pulling the Cincinnati even with the Mavericks at 2-2.
Missouri regained the lead while on the power play, as forward Darren Nowick found the back of the net with less than four minutes to play in the frame to send the Mavericks to a 3-2 lead.
Cincinnati was not deterred and answered right back with a power play goal of their own when Huard found LeBlanc in the slot and he wristed a shot past McAdam to tie the game 3-3 after two periods.
The back-and-forth nature of the game continued early in the third as the Mavericks converted on the power play once more just :25 in when forward Carter Verhaeghe lit the lamp to put Missouri ahead 4-3.
The Cyclones continued to battle and responded with their second power play marker of the night when forward Brandon McNally sent a pass from below the goal line out to Walsh who tapped it by McAdam to pull Cincinnati back even with the Mavericks at 4-4.
Missouri’s power play ultimately decided the game, as with 4:59 left in regulation defenseman Matt Finn beat Cyclones netminder Mark Visentin from the slot to give the Mavericks a 5-4 lead and eventual win
The Cyclones outshot the Mavericks, 32-25 on the night with Visentin turning aside 20 in the loss. Cincinnati and Missouri resume their three-game series on Friday night, with the face-off slated for 8:30pm ET.
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