The Columbus Mavericks returned home to Ohio Health Chiller North this past weekend after a vexing weekend in Tennessee that saw the club drop two straight to the hosting Red River Spartans. “It was a tough weekend down South, but ultimately the two-game series exposed the reality that everything won’t always go our way just because we think we deserve it to.” Said Coach Joey Recktenwald when asked about the series vs the Spartans.

Friday brought new challenges as the Mavericks (2-2) hosted the Battle Creek Kernels (0-1) in another USPHL Great Lakes Division showdown. League scoring leader Caden Cavalieri got the party started just three minutes and 25 seconds into the game with assists from Kobe Rickabaugh and Graham Wood, and the Mavs never looked back. Just a few minutes later It was Rickabaugh’s turn with the help of Cavalieri, and standout rookie D-Man Michal Jansa. The Mavs dominated pace of play, and outshot the Kernels 16-5 in the first period, but entered intermission with only a one goal lead after allowing a goal in the dwindling seconds of the first period.

As the second period got underway, Cavalieri once again got the scoring juices flowing quickly, this time with the help of defensemen Michal Jansa and Alexander Brown. It only took 18 more seconds for rookie forward Brady Gedman to notch the Mavericks’ fourth goal, with Cavalieri adding his second assist of the game, and rookie defender Kessler Bettenson picking up his first career point with the secondary assist. The Mavs once again surrendered a goal to the Kernels who hung around and kept the score close, despite another onslaught of shots in the period, at 17-9.

Keeping things consistent, Cavalieri got the ball rolling in the third, completing the hat trick less than two minutes into the period with an assist from veteran forward Dalton Zulka. A few minutes later, Brady Gedman notched his second of the game and extended the lead to 6-2 with assists from Cavalieri and Jansa. After the final Kernal goal of the night, Michal Jansa added his name to the goal scorers list, sniping one top shelf off a clean offensive zone faceoff win by rookie center Jacob Hatem. The final frame saw the Mavs notch 21 more shots for a three period total of 54, while Robbie Cook turned away 20 of the Kernels 23 shots in the contest


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Saturday’s contest saw the perennial front running Toledo Cherokee (2-0) come to town to take on the Mavs (3-2) in a battle to stay atop the Great Lakes Division. USPHL veteran forward Cameron Krause opened scoring for the Cherokee at the 8:52 mark, sneaking one back door past Mavs rookie netminder Lukáš Kamenický midway through the first period. Not to be outdone, Mavs star forward Caden Cavalieri notched the equalizer with a helper from Kobe Rickabaugh, and two minutes later Thomas Eggleston tallied his first of the year to send the Mavs to the locker room with a 2-1 lead.

The second period saw an unexpected twist, as two of the highest flying offenses in the league combined for only one goal, a Cherokee marker near the halfway point of the period that would set the stage for a 20 minute winner take all showdown.

The third period wasn’t kind to the home team, as Toledo scored three unanswered goals before Alexander Brown pulled the Mavs back to a 5-3 score. The Cherokee ultimately sealed the deal at 6-3 with less than five minutes to go. Kamenický steered away 39 shots on the evening, while Belle Tire AAA product Daxton Lucidi turned down 33 of the Mavericks 36 shots en route to his first junior hockey win.

“At the risk of sounding hyper-critical, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with how we played either night if I’m being completely honest.” stated Head Coach/GM Joey Recktenwald. “Friday we let a team hang around that we nearly outshot 3-1, and Saturday we didn’t rise to the occasion when opportunity presented itself. We’re capable of playing and being much better, and I made it clear to our guys there’s no column in the standings for moral victories. Being competitive isn’t the hope, it’s the standard, and we are going to have to get better if we want to achieve our goal of representing the division at nationals.”

Photo Credit: Lily Little