IDAHO SWEPT BY KANSAS CITY, LOSE IN SERIES FINALE 7-5

IDAHO SWEPT BY KANSAS CITY, LOSE IN SERIES FINALE 7-5

BOISE, ID – The Idaho Steelheads (23-11-1-1, 48pts) fell to the Kansas City Mavericks (26-7-1-1, 53pts) by a final score of 7-5 Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 5,177 at the Idaho Central Arena. It was the 18^th straight sellout this season and Idaho has now sold-out in 20 of 21 home games. Idaho will be on the road next Friday and Saturday night in Rapid City.  

The first period featured seven combined goals as the Steelheads trailed 4-3. Bobby Hampton made it 1-0 Kansas City just 53 seconds in. At 2:57 Keaton Mastrodonato (20^th) tied the game on a direction on the back post from a pass from the near half boards courtesy of Will Merchant. Idaho took their only lead of the game at 7:38 of the period as Sam Sternschein (1^st) recorded his first as a Steelhead on a two-on-one setup from Ben Zloty. 29 seconds later Jeremy McKenna tied the game at 2-2 and then 40 seconds after that Luke Santerno gave the Mavericks a 3-2 lead. Francesco Arucir (10^th) scored a power-play goal with 6:07 left in the stanza on a wrist shot from the high slot tying the score at 3-3. McKenna would get his second of the period giving Kansas City a 4-3 led with 3:34 to play in the period on the man advantage. 

Bradley Schoonbaert tacked onto the Mavericks lead 1:34 into the second period to increase the lead to 5-3. 2:19 later Lincoln Erne (1^st) potted his first professional goal on a shot from above the high slot to pull the Steelheads back within one. Jack Becker (16^th) tied the score with a power-play goal on a deflection in front of an initial shot from the point courtesy of Ben Zloty seven minutes into the period. 2:39 later Kansas City recaptured the lead thanks to a goal from Marc-Olivier Duquette at 9:39. Kansas City took the 6-5 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes of play. 

The lone goal in the third period came on an empty-net score from Patrick Curry with 2:06 left in regulation to hand the Mavericks a 7-5 victory.   

Jared Moe made eight saves on 12 shots and was pulled after the first period in the loss. Bryan Thomson made 17 saves on 19 shots in 39:52 of relief work. Kevin Resop made 20 saves on 25 shots and was pulled after 27 minutes. Dillon Kelley made 20 saves on 20 shots in 33 minutes of relief work. 

BOX SCORE

ICCU Three Stars

1. Jeremy McKenna (KC, 2-0-2, +1, 7 shots) 
2. Bradley Schoonbaert (KC, 1-1-2, +1, 1 shot) 
3. Ben Zloty (IDH, 0-2-2, -1) 

GAME NOTES

• Idaho went 2-for-5 on the power-play while Kansas City was 1-for-2. 
• Idaho outshot Kansas City 45-32. 
• Idaho is 23-9-3 all-time vs. Kansas City and 12-3-1 in Boise, ID. 
• Jade Miller (IR), Ty Pelton-Byce (INJ), and Wade Murphy (INJ) did not dress for Idaho. 
• Sam Sternschein scored his first goal as a Steelhead and recorded three shots while being plus-two. 
• Will Merchant tallied an assist for his 200^th career ECHL point. 
• Lincoln Erne scored his first professional goal.
• Ben Zloty (2), Bailey Conger, Willie Knierim, A.J. White, and Nick Canade also tallied an assist for Idaho. 
• Jack Becker led all skaters with seven shots.  

Call the Steelheads Front Office at 208-383-0080 for ticket packages for this season. Stay up to date with all things Steelheads on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Watch all Steelheads home games on FloHockey and KTVB 24/7 (Channel 7.2) and listen on the Steelheads flagship station 95.3 FM KTIK “The Ticket”.