MAVS MONDAY: March 11

The Kansas City Mavericks closed out a week of thrilling games with a Sunday matinee against the first-place Cincinnati Cyclones. With two goals in the final five minutes of regulation, the Mavericks took the best in the ECHL to the brink, forcing overtime and an eventual shootout in front of 5,702 fans at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena. Cincinnati won the game in the second round of the shootout, but Sunday’s game capped an incredible week that saw Mason McDonald’s league leading fourth shutout of the season, and incredible comeback Friday night against the Allen Americans and Sunday’s thriller against Cincy. Here is this week’s Mavs Monday. Last Week’s Action3/6: @ Allen, 6-0 W3/8: @ Allen, 9-3 W3/10: vs. Cincinnati, 4-3 (SO) L This Week’s Schedule3/15: vs. Wichita3/16: vs. Tulsa Mountain Division Standings:1. Idaho                        35-21-3-2, 75 pts2. Tulsa                        34-21-4-2, 74 pts3. Utah                         32-20-4-4, 72 pts4. Kansas City             31-23-3-2, 67 pts5. Rapid City                25-29-5-3, 58 pts6. Wichita                     24-28-6-3, 57 pts7. Allen                         22-36-4-2, 50 pts Notes & QuotesThriller vs. CincyThe Mavericks faced off against the top team in the ECHL, the Cincinnati Cyclones Sunday afternoon in one of the most physical and thrilling games of the season. The Mavericks scored two goals in the final five minutes of regulation to force overtime and earn a standings point against the top team in the league. The game went to a shootout after a scoreless OT period. The Cyclones took home the win on Alex Wideman’s second round shootout goal after all three Mavericks shooters failed to score in the shootout.

All Out Brawl OutKansas City and Cincinnati combined for 144 penalty minutes (72 each) in Sunday’s game, most of which stemmed from the aftermath of a third period hit in the Cyclones zone. Mavericks forward Loren Ulett exited the game on a game misconduct penalty after picking up his third major penalty and amassed 49 penalty minutes during the game. Cincinnati’s Arvin Atwal also earned an ejection for his role in the fracas and amassed 32 penalty minutes during the game. Cincinnati’s Justin Vaive and Kansas City’s David Dziurzynski also received game misconducts for their roles in the altercation.

Knocking On The DoorWith five points amassed in three games last week, the Mavericks are suddenly threatening to climb the standings in the ECHL’s Mountain Division. The Mavericks now sit just five points behind the third place Utah Grizzlies and seven points back of the Tulsa Oilers after idling in fourth place for weeks. The Mavs have a game at hand over Utah and two games at hand over Tulsa as of Monday.

Blowout In Allen The Mavericks scored nine unanswered goals Friday night against the Allen Americans, making it their highest team total for goals scored in a single game this season. After Allen jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, the Mavericks closed out the game with nine straight goals. 

American Supremacy The Mavericks finished the year 10-1-0-0 against their Mountain Division rival, Allen Americans this season. In their final two games against the Americans, the Mavericks outscored Allen 15-3. 

Quarter Century Club Mavericks Forward Darian Dziurzynski was the first Maverick to reach the 25-goal mark Saturday night in Allen with his first period goal. 

Betzold Can’t Be Stopped orward Greg Betzold has five goals and four assists in his last three games, as well as 12 goals and seven assists for 19 points in his last 15 games. 

Ulett Gets His FirstLoren Ulett scored his first ECHL goal on Saturday against Allen. He previously spent time with the Birmingham Bulls of the SPHL this season. 

March Rolls On The Mavericks only have three home games remaining on the schedule. March 15 against Wichita, March 16 against Tulsa and April 2 against Tulsa. 

Away We Go The Mavericks only play one home game in their last 11 regular season games. The final 11 games are also played over the course of 19 days. 

Team Awards The Mavericks held their annual team awards Saturday night. Goaltender Mason McDonald took home team MVP honors while Mavericks assistant coach Kyle Hood won the organization’s Maverick of the Year award for his contributions to youth hockey in Kansas City. The Mavericks also presented radio broadcaster Bob Rennison with a lifetime achievement award for his 10 years of service to the Mavericks franchise. 

Closing in on 100 Wins Mavericks Head Coach John-Scott Dickson is closing in on 100 career wins as a head coach. In three seasons with the Mavericks, his record currently stands at 98-84-11-9.

The Mavericks continue their home stand this Friday against the Wichita Thunder and Saturday against the Tulsa Oilers before hitting the road for an eight-game road trip. Faceoff for the Wichita and Tulsa games will be 7:05 p.m. For more information, please visit kcmavericks.com.

Media Inquiries: Brian McGannon | bmcgannon@kcmavericks.com | 816-285-8031