News release
19 November 2007
Dan LaCosta stopped 42 shots and Pierre-Luc Faubert scored once in regulation and netted the shootout winner for Elmira in the Jackals 2-1 victory over the Texas Wildcatters before a sparse crowd of 1,152 at Ford Arena Sunday night in Beaumont, Texas.
The win, the Jackals second straight over the South Division co-leaders, lifted Elmira into a tie for second place in the North Division and two points behind division leader Cincinnati.
The shootout followed an entertaining overtime period in which the Jackals out shot the Wildcatters 7-3 and repeatedly had the game-winning goal on their sticks, only to be denied by Texas net minder Anton Khudobin (31 saves).
Not to be outdone, LaCosta posted a season-high in saves and won in back-to-back starts. Included was a bang-bang sequence midway through the extra session that saw Texas captain John McNabb let a low shot go from between the hash marks. LaCosta stopped the drive and denied the follow-up by Brandon Benedict.
Faubert and Shawn Weller converted in the shootout for Elmira while LaCosta was perfect on four Wildcatter attempts to give the Jackals their third win on four tries on the southern road swing.
Faubert got the visitors on the board with the only goal of the opening period with Elmira working a power play, taking a headman feed from Tomas Kudelka and beating Khudobin with 1:10 left in the opening period.
Cleve Kinley tied the game at 11:09 of the second period when he beat LaCosta from the right circle with a drive over his blocker arm.
That would be the only source of offense for the high-powered Catters, who were held to one goal in each of the last two games after opening the series with a 6-3 win Friday night. McNabb and Danick Bouchard combined for five points in that contest, but Texas top two scorers were held off the score sheet the rest of the weekend.
The Jackals conclude their five-game road trip Tuesday night in Gwinnett, Georgia, against the South Division co-leading Gladiators. Game time from The Arena at Gwinnett Center is 7:05 p.m. with game night coverage on MAGIC FM (92.7/97.7) beginning with the Hill Top Inn Countdown to Face-Off at 6:35 p.m.
Following the Thanksgiving holiday, the Jackals jump right back into action Friday to kick off three games in three nights at First Arena. The Trenton Devils are in town Friday and then its the Reading Royals Saturday night with face-off set for 7:35 p.m. both nights. The weekend closes with the only meeting of the year between the Jackals and the Columbia Inferno Sunday afternoon at 4:05 p.m.