Steelheads Fall 4-3 To Mavericks In Back-And-Forth Game

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – The Idaho Steelheads (33-19-4) had all but one answer to the Kansas City Mavericks (28-21-4), falling 4-3 on Wednesday night from Silverstein Eye Centers Arena.

Despite a clean first period with numerous scoring chances for the Steelheads, it was the Mavericks to jump out with the early lead. Mavericks forward Greg Betzold was led up the right wing and flipped a shot from the right circle at 12:54 to take the 1-0 advantage.

In the second period, the Steelheads found the answer they were searching for at 11:01 when forward Kyle Schempp fed forward Reid Petryk for a one-time shot in the left circle, leveling the score at 1-1. However, Mavericks forward David Dziurzynski was fed off the left post at 14:56 to give the home side back the lead, 2-1.

The Steelheads found another answering tally as the see-saw of scoring continued. At 5:09, Steelheads forward Alex Dahl fired a shot from the right wall that slipped through a screen to tie the game again, 2-2. The Mavericks edged ahead, 3-2, at 15:20 with a back door goal by forward Corey Durocher then found a shorthanded empty net goal from defenseman Nate Widman at 19:05 to take a 4-2 lead. However, on that same power play, Steelheads defenseman Charlie Dodero gave the road side life with a goal at 19:47 to come back within one, 4-3, before the Mavericks held them off for the victory.

Mavericks goaltender Mason McDonald (17-5-2) halted 31 of 34 shots in the win, while Steelheads netminder Tomas Sholl (19-10-0) saved 33 of 36 shots in the loss.

The Steelheads and Mavericks continue their weekend from Silverstein Eye Centers Arena on Friday, Mar. 1 at 6:05 p.m. to open a three-game weekend against the Kansas City Mavericks. Coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on 1350AM KTIK and ECHL.TV.The Steelheads return to CenturyLink Arena on Wednesday, Mar. 6 at 7:10 p.m. against the Wichita Thunder. Single-game tickets and season ticket packages are on sale, with full-season packages starting as low as $300 per seat. Contact the Idaho Steelheads at 208-383-0080 for more information or log on to idahosteelheads.com.