Lone Star Brahmas – Odessa Jackalopes Preview
By Kirk Estes
The Lone Star Brahmas are coming off a big two point weekend trip to Rio Grande Valley and will look to build on their success against the visiting Odessa Jackalopes. The games this weekend will be the first at NyTex since September 14th.
Last Saturday, the Brahmas played their lone game of the week against the Killer Bees. Todd Koritzinsky got things started for the Brahmas with a goal at 8:48 of the first from Jan Hudecek. RJ Salvato contributed their second of the period at 12:03 with Alexey Solovyev and Liam Stirtzinger getting the assists. In the second The Killer Bees got a Trent Dilinger power play goal on a failed clearing attempt. Anthony Croston scored another power play goal for Rio Grande to send the game to send the game to overtime and ultimately a shootout. In the shootout the Brahmas put on a clinic, Solovyev scored in the second round followed by Salvato in the third Paul Fregeau scored in the fifth and final round to lock up the victory. Jacob Nehama made 34 saves on 36 shots and then turned aside 3 of 4 in the shootout to record the win.
The Jackalopes on the other hand suffered a three game home sweep at the hand of the Topeka Roadrunners. Thursday the Roadrunners took a 4 – 1 win and followed that up with 5 – 3 and 3 – 2 victories to drop Odessa to 2 – 14 – 0 on the season.
Lone Star and Odessa have not met yet this season. Looking at each team’s performances against the common opponents of Rio Grande and Topeka, the Jackalopes are 0 – 6 – 0 while the Brahmas are 3 – 3 – 1.
| Last 5 Games | W | L | OTL | Pts |
| Brahmas | 2 |
3
0
4
Jackalopes
0
5
0
0
Special Teams
Neither the Brahmas nor Jackalopes have been particularly efficient on the power play this season. Lone Star is currently setting at 19th in the NAHL at 11.6% converting 5 of 43 opportunities. Odessa is two spots behind the Brahmas at number 21. The Jackalopes have scored 7 times on 69 power plays for 10.1%.
On the penalty kill, Odessa and Lone Star are holding down the bottom two spots in the league. Both teams have been short handed 66 times this season. Odessa has allowed 16 power play goals for 75.8% while the Brahmas have allowed 17 for 74.2%.
Goaltending Comparison Last 5 Games
GP |
W
L
OTL
SO
GA
GAA
SV
SV%
Brahmas
5
2
3
0
0
17
3.40
176
.912
Jackalopes
5
0
2
5
0
18
3.60
133
.881
Who is Hot (Last 5 Games)
| Brahmas | G |
A
Pts
4
0
4
Anthony Mousseau
1
3
4
Jan Hudecek
0
4
4
Paul Fregeau
1
2
3
Liam Stirtzinger
1
2
3
JackalopesG
A
Pts
1
2
3
2
0
2
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
2
Inside the Game
Anthony Mousseau continues to be among the league leaders in Defenseman scoring with 10 points on 2G – 8A good for fifth in the league. Alexey Solovyev is 14th with 1G – 6A and 7 points.
Odessa Defenseman Chris Taff is tied for second in the league in PIM’s with 47 and first in the league with 15 minors.
Both Jackalopes goalies are among league leaders in losses. Yoshihiro Kuroiwa is first with 9 while Eric Hancock is fourth with 5. Kuroiwa is leading the league in saves with 329 and is fourth in minutes played at 613:24.
The Brahmas are averaging 22.54 PIM’s per game and the Jackalopes average 16.75. Lone Star is fifth in the league with 11 majors while Odessa is tied for third with 12.
Both teams have scored 28 goals on the season in regulation. Oddly enough their per period scoring is the same 8 – 10 – 10.
The Brahmas average 2.31 goals per game while the Jackalopes average 1.75. Defensively, the Brahmas allow an average of 4.08 goals per game and Odessa allows 3.94 goals.
Recent Roster Movement
The Brahmas have had a couple recent additions to the roster. The have added Goalie Shane Joyce and Forward Kellen Wasell. Joyce comes over from the Jr Brahmas of the WSHL where he was 2 – 3 – 0 with an .887 SV%. Wasell, a 1993 birth year has 72 games of NAHL experience. He spent the 2011/12 season with KenaiRiver. He started the following season with Kenai before moving to the Dallas Ice Jets of the WSHL. This season Wasell played four games with Wichita Falls before coming over to the Brahmas. In his 72 games he has 3G – 12A and 81 PIM’s.
Tickets are still available for both Friday and Saturday night. Tickets can be purchased the Lone Star Brahmas Sales Office at 817-336-4423 or at the NyTex Box Office.