Cincinnati, Ohio – The Mavericks defeated the Cyclones in both games in their home-and-home series this weekend for a strong regular season finish.

The team travelled to Cincinnati for a Saturday 1 p.m. game, where they finished 5-2.

Rookie defenseman Grant Hendrickson scored his third goal of the season on a power play, with assists from Colin Crowley and Carson Johnston to start the scoring off for the Mavs, 12:05 into the first period. Graham Wood added to the Mavs’ tally shortly after, scoring a goal on assists from Bryce Kolpien and Kyle Hauer at 14:15. The Mavs finished the first period with the lead, despite the Cyclones scoring a power play goal while Hauer served an interference penalty to set the score 2-1.

The Cyclones added their second goal on another power play, less than a minute into defenseman Roman Boffa’s elbowing penalty, at 9:47 in the second period to tie the teams 2-2. The Mavs quickly regained the lead, with the 2005-born Jeffrey Slivon adding his third goal of the season with assists from Crowley and Cameron DeForest, at 11:37 and on a power play. Yet again, the Mavs finished the period with a one goal lead, 3-2.

Third period saw the Mavs solidify their lead over the Cyclones, as Hendrickson scored his second of the afternoon with assists from Charlie Friel and Hunter Gentz, 11:11 in. Gentz scored the fifth and final goal for the Mavs only 31 seconds later, at 11:42, on another power play. 2004-born defenseman Paul McClure, in his second USPHL game, assisted for his first point as a Maverick.

Lewis Center, Ohio – The Mavericks returned home to Chiller North to continue the action, where they shut out the Cyclones in a manner reminiscent of their 8-0 home opener win back in October, to close out the 2022-23 regular season.

McClure scored his first junior goal 10:17 in, with assists from Jaxson Gillespie and Piercen Garcia.

Just like in October, that would prove to be the sole goal of the first, and the Mavs picked up their pace in the second period. Friel added the Mavs’ second goal to the board at 2:53 during a 4-on-4, also assisted by Gillespie and Garcia.

After the Mavs returned to full strength and during the brief power play, Johnston scored his seventeenth goal of the season with an assist from Hendrickson, less than a minute later at 3:45.

The middle of the second period was rough and saw six penalties between both teams in the course of two minutes; however the Mavs continued to build on their momentum when Gentz added his second goal of the weekend with assists from Boffa and Daniel Schmidt at 15:06.

Gillespie rounded out the scoring of the second period that finished 5-0, scoring his second goal of the season with assists by Schmidt and Bryce Kolpien at 16:39.

The Mavs added two more goals in quick succession during the third period for a 7-0 win: Garcia scored on McClure’s assist at 8:17, and Slivon scored his fourth of the season at 9:44 on assists from Crowley and Johnston, who finish the season as the first and second place leaders in points, respectively.

Great Lakes Division Playoffs action begins this weekend. The Mavericks will travel to Mount Clemens for a Friday night game against the Metro Jets for the first of a best-of-three series. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

The Mavericks will host the Jets for game 2, with puck drop at 7:30 p.m on Saturday, March 11. Game 3 (if necessary) is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 12.