Americans win Game One of Conference Finals 4-3 in Odessa
ODESSA, Texas – The Allen Americans defeated the Odessa Jackalopes 4-3 tonight to bring home a Game One victory in the Southern Conference Finals. The Americans take the first lead of the series, 1-0.
Odessa jumped out to an early lead on the power play at 2:40 of the opening frame. The first goal in the series came from Sebastien Thinel. The point was Thinel’s thirteenth point of the post-season. Allen’s captain, Jarret Lukin, tied the game with 4:16 remaining in the period before the Jackalopes scored another goal with the one-man advantage. Philippe Plante was credited with Odessa’s second power play tally. The Jackalopes were up 2-1 after 20 minutes.
The second period belonged to the Americans, who scored two goals to take a 3-2 lead. Forward Nino Musitelli scored at 12:32 and then set up Lukin for his second tally of the night. Lukin’s goal came at 15:15.
Even though the Americans headed into the third period with a 3-2 lead, they continued to press. Agitator Mike Salekin showed the finesse in his game when he scored a shorthanded goal at 7:22 of the final frame. The tally proved to be the game winner, as the Jackalopes could only get one more puck by Allen backstop Chris Whitley. 34 seconds after Salekin scored, Mike Ramsay lit the lamp for Odessa. The Jackalopes pulled netminder Joel Martin with 45 seconds left in the game to put the extra attacker on, but they could not tie the game. The final score was 4-3.
Whitley made 35 saves tonight, while Martin stopped 26 shots.
Game Two is tomorrow night in Odessa at 7:05 p.m. The Americans are hosting a watching party at Boston’s Gourmet Pizza in McKinney.
Allen will host Games Three, Four and Five April 14, 16 and 17, respectively, at the Allen Event Center. Tickets are available by calling 972-912-1000 or visiting gettix.net.
The box score is available on Pointstreak.com.
Southern Conference Finals
Allen Americans (2) vs. Odessa Jackalopes (1)
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 9 – Allen 4 @ Odessa 3 (Allen leads 1-0)
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 10 – Allen @ Odessa, 7:05
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 14 – Allen vs. Odessa, 7:30
Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 16 – Allen vs. Odessa, 7:30
*Game 5 – Sat., Apr. 17 – Allen vs. Odessa, 7:30
*Game 6 – Mon., Apr. 19 – Allen @ Odessa, 7:05
*Game 7 – Wed., Apr. 21 – Allen @ Odessa, 7:05
*If necessary
Photo by Amy Gutierrez.
