WICHITA, Kan. – The Missouri Mavericks claimed a dominant 7-2 win over the Wichita Thunder on Friday night in their first of two back-to-back games this weekend. Rookie forward Colin Markisoncontributed to the win with a hat trick while the team collectively outshot the Thunder 38 to 20 through sixty minutes of hockey.
The barrage of Mavericks goals came early and often in the opening period as five of the seven Missouri points were scored in the first twenty minutes of play. Ten different players claimed points through the explosive offensive run at the Wichita net.
Tyler Barnes opened the scoreboard at 5:30 of the first period on the Mavs first man-advantage opportunity of the night. Jesse Root and Kellen Jones were credited with the helpers on the power-play goal. Then Markison doubled the Mavs lead 2-0 at 9:11 with an unassisted play.
Kenton Miller cut into the Missouri lead less than two minutes later at 10:53, unassisted.
Markison made his second move of the game at 14:31 with the aid of Andrew Courtney and Tanner Fritz just thirty-three seconds before teammate Sebastien Sylvestre notched his second goal of the season with the help of Rocco Carzo and C.J. Ludwig.
Leading 4-1, the Mavericks were not quite done with their first period offensive drive as Courtney notched his own tally on the power-play at 17:55. Jones and Kane Lafranchise assisted.
It looked as though the Mavs 5-1 lead would hold through the second period, until Markison completed his hat trick with only 1:32 remaining in the frame. Net-minder, Josh Robinson, was credited with the lone assist on Markison’s third goal of the evening.
Not satisfied with a four-goal lead, Barnes bumped the Mavs up 7-1 over the Thunder just fifty-one seconds into the third period, unassisted. The home-team rival was able to capture one more point when Mason Baptista scored at 14:01, assisted by Joey Sides and net-minder Grant Rollheiser, but the late move was far too little too late to overcome the deficit their deficit.
Missouri skated away from their first of two match-ups against the Thunder this weekend with a commanding 7-2 win, improving the Mavs to 5-0 against their long-time rival, and boosting them up with a ten-point lead in the Independence Cup Series.
The Mavericks will face the Thunder again on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:05p.m. at INTRUST Bank Arena before they travel home to host the Allen Americans on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena.
With Missouri Mavericks team release
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