Following a successful USPHL Detroit Showcase appearance, the Mavs hit the road again this past weekend for a two-game series against Great Lakes division rivals, the Lake Erie Bighorns. After two physical contests, the Mavericks returned home with a pair of victories and moved squarely into third place in the Great Lakes division standings.

The weekend started with a Friday night face-off at ErieBank Sports Park, where the Mavs wasted little time putting points on the board, scoring three goals in the first period. Jared Burkhart opened the scoring for the Mavs with a goal just two minutes into the game, assisted by Caleb Fifiolt. Bailey Doust added the team’s second goal just three minutes later, with helpers from Tyler Isherwood and Brian Odstrchel. Not wanting to miss out on the offensive action, Ethan Bishara tallied the Mavs’ third goal, unasssited at the 7 minute mark.

After the Mavs would take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission, the pace of the scoring slowed down considerably, as almost the entire second period elapsing without any change to the scoreboard. Columbus’ Colin Crowley would end the scoring drought with just 23 seconds left in the period, assisted by Ethan Bishara and Chance Settles. As the third period started, the Bighorns looked to mount a comeback, scoring a quick goal just three minutes into the final stanza. Their efforts would fall short; however, as the Mavs’ defense would stand strong, giving Columbus a 4-1 victory. Alex Toth would get his fourth start and second win of the season in net for the Mavericks as he stopped 16 of 17 shots on the night.

Both teams were back at it on Saturday night for the second game of the weekend series. The Mavs looked to pick up where they left off as they drew first blood at the 15:50 mark of the first period with a goal by Colin Crowley, assisted by Brian Odstrchel and Ethan Bishara. This 1-0 lead would hold through the end of the first period. As second period neared the half-way point, Tyler Isherwood would extend the Mavs’ lead to two with a goal at the 9:01 mark, assisted by Bailey Doust. This score would stand into the second intermission. As the teams came out for the final period of play, the Mavs looked to put the victory on ice. As the period passed the 5 minute mark, Colin Crowley would score his second goal of the game, assisted by Ethan Bishara. Not wanting to be left out of the two-goal club, Tyler Isherwood scored his second goal of the game at the 13:47 mark, assisted by Nik Jozefiak and Chance Settles.

As the final period drew to a close, the Bighorns battled to dash the Mavs’ shutout attempt, but rookie netminder, Frank Murphy stood tall. As the final buzzer sounded, Murphy’s clean sheet was in tact, as he stopped all 36 shots he faced, earning his first USPHL shutout and improving his stat line to 1.16 GAA and a .961 save percentage.

The Mavs are back in action this weekend as they return home to OhioHealth Chiller North to face-off in a two-game, inter-divisional series against the Buffalo Stampede, starting with a 7:30 PM face-off on Friday, November 5th. Tickets are on sale now at www.columbusmavericks.com/tickets.