The Mavericks spent their last weekend prior to heading into the USPHL Chicago Showcase facing off against inter-division rivals, the Fort Wayne Spacemen, in a 3-game home-and-home series. In what turned out to be an extremely exciting series, the Mavs came out on top in all three games to sweep the Spacemen. The series kicked off on Friday night as the Mavs traveled to Fort Wayne’s Parkview Icehouse. In what would be offensive showcase, highlighted by two hat tricks, the Mavericks recorded a 10-0 victory. The Mavs got out to a quick start in the first period with a pair of goals scored by Ethan Bishara (assisted by Danny Beebe/Tim Kramer and Hayden Ripley) and Keegan Hoover (assisted by Tyler Dickerson/Deric Richison and Deric Richison/Caleb Fifolt) each. Tim Kramer (unassisted) and Jordan Winrod (assisted by Tyler Dickerson) would round out the first period scoring to give the Mavericks a 6-0 lead at the first intermission. The second period saw another pair of Mavericks goals, scored by Jack Bortle (assissted by George Zimmerer) and Ethan Bishara (assisted by Tim Kramer and Isaac Jones) to complete his hat trick. The third period was more of the same as Keegan Hoover secured his hat trick with an unassisted goal. Danny Beebe scored the final goal of the game assisted by Will Kididis. Tyler Dorion stood tall between the pipes, securing his second shutout of the season as he stopped all shots faced on the night. Saturday night saw the Mavericks return home to OhioHealth Chiller North for the second of the three game series. Looking for redemption, the Spacemen put up a tough fight, but the Mavericks would ultimately prevail by a final score of 5-2. The first period saw Mavericks goals by Keegan Hoover (assisted by Deric Richison) and Isaac Jones (assisted by Keegan Hoover and Deric Richison). The Spacemen would add on of their own to close the gap to 2-1 at the first intermission. Fort Wayne would score the lone second period goal to tie the game after 2 periods; however, it was all Mavs in the third. Isaac Jones kicked off the third period scoring with his second goal of the night (assisted by Tim Kramer), followed by the Mavs’ 4th goal, scored by Tristen Elmhurst (assisted by Caleb Fifolt and Nik Jozefiak). Deric Richison would seal the victory with an empty net goal at the 19:31 mark (assisted by Ethan Bishara). Tyler Dorion put up another strong performance in net, turning away 30 of 32 shots faced on the evening. Sunday night would see the final, and arguably, the most exciting contest of the series, in which the Mavericks would come away with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory. The extremely even match was one of symmetry and started with a scoreless first period. The Mavs opened up the scoring in the second period with a goal by newcomer, Noah Staten (assisted by Will Kididis and Marcus Cornett); however, the Spacemen would answer back to tie the game at 1-1 going into the second intermission. It would be the Spacemen that would break the deadlock with a goal at the 4:18 mark in the third period. Not to be outdone, the Mavericks would answer back just 2 minutes later with a goal by Jack Bortle (assisted by Jordan Winrod). Despite numerous scoring late scoring chances for both teams, the 2-2 tie would hold through regulation, sending the game into overtime. After a physical back-and-forth battle in overtime, Hayden Ripley would capitalize on a race for a loose puck, and score a diving game-winning goal at the 2:43 mark (assisted by Deric Richison and Isaac Jones). Rookie net minder, Zach Waizmann would get his first start and first victory of the season in exciting fashion, stopping 26 of 28 shots on the night. The Mavericks will round out the 2020 portion of their season with a 4-game stretch at the USPHL Chicago Showcase this coming weekend, where they will face off against the Chicago Cougars, Minnesota Mullets, Decatur Blaze, and Minnesota Blue Ox. You can catch all of the action live on HockeyTV!