Missed it by that much (click photo to enlarge). Bill Vandermeer's shot slips past Wayne Savage

Mavericks spoil the night at NYTEX

Brahmas lose 4-1

"We didn’t think that we put in the effort that was necessary to win the game – we had a few opportunities but our effort just wasn’t what it needed to be." - Jason Deitsch

It looked like it would be an evenly matched game and coming off the overtime win against Laredo last Friday and the win against the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs on Saturday, Brahmas fans expected a little more than what they got during last night's match against the Missouri Mavericks. In the end, what they got was a total of 17 shots on goal and four unanswered goals allowed which resulted in the fourth loss at the NYTEX Sports Centre this season.

Just 1:27 into the contest, Roger Maxwell and Mavericks winger Carlyle Lewis dropped the gloves after some words were exchanged during a face off. Lewis appeared to plead for leniency and Maxwell was quickly pulled to the ice and the two went to their respective bins to serve their five minutes.

The Mavericks had a power play opportunity at the 7:07 mark after Brahmas defenseman Jim Burichin was called for hooking but the league's best penalty killers did their job and shut down the advantage.

The Brahmas tallied their only goal on their second shot of the opening frame when Matt Pierce sent a deflection past Rob Nolan at the 11:40 mark. Jason Krischuk and Jason Deitsch assisted.

That was in fact, the only score in the first 20 minutes of the game during which a combined 10 shots on goal were made. Missouri had the 6-4 advantage but found themselves down a point heading into the first intermission. Their fortune would soon change.

Nick Sirota quickly tied the game for the Mavericks when he scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season at the 3:38 mark of the second period. Mike Wakita and Ryan Jardine were credited with the assists.

and Ryan Bill Vandermeer scored his first goal of the season to give Missouri the 2-1 lead with a little help from SirotaJardine at the 15:25 mark. Vandermeer’s goal, which was ultimately the game-winner, came in just his third game back from an off-season injury that sidelined him more than a month to start this season.

Missouri had an 11-8 shot advantage in the middle frame and remarkably, there were no penalties called.

The Mavericks added to their lead in the third period with a power play goal from defenseman Dominic D’Amour at the 7:38 mark. Toby Lafrance and Ray Dilauro were in on the assist.

DiLauro ended the scoring at the 9:02 mark on an assist from Derek Pallardy.

Missouri out shot Texas 8-5 in the final period and went 25-17 overall.

With the loss, the Brahmas record goes to 9-6-2 (20 points) but they remain in third place in the Berry Conference. Texas is now 5-3-1 on home ice.

Wayne Savage stopped 21 of 25 shots faced and takes the loss. His record goes to 3-4-1 with a 2.89 GAA and a .906 save percentage.

Rob Nolan turned away 16 of 17 shots faced to earn his fifth win of the season. His record goes to 5-2-2.

The Brahmas went 0 for 2 on the power play. The Mavericks went 1 for 6. The Brahmas were assessed 15 minutes on 6 infractions. The Mavericks received 11 minutes on 4 infractions.

The 3rd Star of the game went to Matt Pierce, who scored the Brahma's lone goal on the night. The 2nd Star was awarded to Ray DiLauro, who had a goal and an assist and the 1st Star went to Nick Sirota, who also had a goal and an assist.

Referee: Dan Dreger
Linesmen: Justin Bell, Bill McGoldrick

You can view the box score here and the Game Live broadcast here

You can view the Brahmas' press release here

You can view my photos from the game here and here (Camera B not edited yet)

The Brahmas host the Colorado Eagles tonight, which is also ‘Teddy Bear Toss’ night. Fans are encouraged to bring stuffed animals to the game to toss onto the ice following the first Texas goal. The stuffed animals will be donated to the Community Enrichment Center of North Richland Hills.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith