ODESSA, Texas – The Oklahoma Warriors, proud members of the North American Hockey League, fell 5-3 to the Odessa Jackalopes on Saturday night.
For the second night in a row, Jackson Hone opened up the game scoring at 18:54 unassisted to put the Warriors ahead 1-0. Jeremy Sprung potted home a one-time feed on the back door from Tyler Wilmoth, adding his second tally of the season in just as many games, making it 2-0 at 12:03 on the man advantage. Jonathan Cifaldi put Odessa on the board at 1:18, set up by Lucas Goodfellow and Trevor Nightingale to round out the first period scoring 2-1.
Lucas Goodfellow opened the second period scoring with a goal of his own at 12:46, with Max Pieninkeroinen and Max Donatelli collecting the helpers to even the game 2-2. Bjorn Bahneman added his fifth of the season on the powerplay at 8:14, set up by Andrew Brees and Max Pienenkeroinen to put the Jackalopes ahead 3-2. Adam Matar added the fourth unanswered tally at 1:09 to make it 4-2 through two periods of play.
Jack Dunne brought the Warriors back within one with 55 seconds remaining in regulation, assisted by Ben Osiashvili, making it 4-3. Ryan Staples cashed in the empty netter for the exclamation point at the 33-second mark, assisted by Max Donatelli and Austin Lamer, securing the 5-3 final.
Nathan St-Pierre stopped 27-of-31 shots faced and Jakub Hanlan stopped 12-of-12 in the Warriors effort. Cody Niesen stopped 28-of-31 in the Jackalopes win.
Oklahoma returns to road action on Thursday, Oct. 29 as they’re set to take on the Amarillo Wranglers. Puck drop from the Budweiser Bull Pen is set for 11 a.m. CST, with the game being broadcast on NATV.
