The Mavericks faced off against the Pittsburgh Vengeance for the first time of the 2019-20 season in a home-and-home series this past weekend. Stellar goaltending was on display from two of the Mavericks net minders as they collectively turned away 129 of the 138 shots they faced in the two games. Battling against a barrage of shots from the Vengeance, Columbus was able to come away from the weekend with a point with a 2-1 overtime loss on Sunday. The Mavs started the home-and-home series at home on Friday night as they took on the division-leading Vengeance in front of an excited home crowd at OhioHealth Chiller North. After a physical first period, the two teams went into the locker room at intermission with a 0-0 tie. Pittsburgh opened up the scoring in the second period with back-to-back goals, scored by Nick Ventura and Ian Edgar. The Mavericks soon answered with a goal of their own a 13:08 in the second period, scored by Isaac Jones with an assist by Keegan Hoover. The Vengeance would respond just 4 minutes later to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. The third period saw more offense from the Vengeance as Pittsburgh scored 4 unanswered goals to take the win 7-1.  Despite the final score, Columbus goaltender, Hayden Hoover, was the shining star of the night, turning away an unprecedented 73 of 80 shots for a .912 save percentage. Looking to respond to Friday’s loss, the Mavericks were fired up as they traveled to Pittsburgh on Saturday for the second game of the series. The excitement of a number of back-and-forth scoring opportunities answered by outstanding net minding, saw the game at a scoreless tie after both the first and second periods. The Vengeance broke the scoring drought just three minutes into the third period with a goal by Lucas Kirk. Not to be denied, the Mavericks continued to battle and were able to even the score with just over two minutes left in the game with a goal by Keegan Hoover, assisted by Isaac Jones. With no more goals in the remaining two minutes, the horn would sound on regulation with a 1-1 tie and the excitement of an upcoming overtime.  The Mavericks jumped out to a quick start in the overtime period, maintaining control in the offensive zone and getting a number of shots off; however, the Vengeance managed to sneak past the Mavs defenders to score a breakaway goal to seal the victory. Columbus goaltender, Tyler Dorion, got his first start of the 2019-20 season and made the most of it, stopping an impressive 56 of the 58 shots he faced. The Mavericks have a busy weekend coming up with three home games against the Lake Erie Bighorns on Friday, January 17th, the Toledo Cherokee on Saturday, January 18th, and the Metro Jets on Sunday, January 19th. Tickets for all three games are available now at <span style="text-decoration:underline"><span style="text-decoration:underline"><a href=http://www.columbusmavericks.com/tickets target=_blank>www.columbusmavericks.com/tickets</a>.