Hat Trick

The Wichita Thunder beat the Mississippi RiverKings 5-2 at the INTRUST Bank Arena on Friday night. Jesse Bennefield led the offense with Wichita's fifth hat trick of the season, helping the Thunder beat the RiverKings for the first time in four tries this year. A.J. Gale capped off a defensive-minded first period with a goal at the 19:24 mark.  Aaron Davis led a three-on-one rush down the left side before making a centering pass to Gale.  Gale's one-timer went through the five-hole of RiverKings' goaltender Larry Sterling, hit the left post, and then bounced off the back of Sterling's pad and into the net. Bennefield increased Wichita's lead to 2-0 at 2:02 in the second, deflecting Mike Looby's shot from the high slot over Sterling's left shoulder.

Behind a three-goal outing from Alex Bourret, Wichita took a 3-1 lead in its best-of-seven series with a 4-2 win over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees Thursday night at State Farm Arena. Wichita can close out the series at home on Saturday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. For the fourth time in this series, Rio Grande Valley scored first to take a 1-0 lead. Brady Leavold found a rebound in the left circle and beat Thunder starter Adam Russo with a power play goal. The two teams combined for six power plays and 20 minutes in the first period.

Chris Chappell recorded a hat trick and Matt Summers notched three points as Wichita (27-12-2) smothered Quad City (23-17-1) Sunday night, winning 5-1 in front of 9,401 fans at INTRUST Bank Arena. Wichita improves to 6-0-2 all-time against Quad City and 3-0-0 at home. Chris Chappell (4) gave Wichita the early lead as he came down the wall, cut across the goal line and followed up his own rebound at 13:06. Four minutes later, Matt Summers (13) stole it from the Mallard defender and sniped a wrist shot just under the cross bar to give Wichita a 2-0 lead.

On Friday night the Wichita Thunder (6-1) look to extend their winning streak to 4 games when they face the Quad City Mallards (3-3) at Intrust Bank Arena. Colin Hemingway led the Thunder Wednesday night with a hat trick in the team's win over Rapid City. Wichita is currently leading the Berry Conference by two games over Tulsa.  The puck drops just after 7 pm Friday night at Intrust Bank Arena.

Wichita (25-11-2) exploded for its highest scoring output of the season, winning 8-4 over the Arizona Sundogs (12-21-7) Wednesday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. Kevin Seibel recorded his first professional hat trick and Matt Summers added four assists to pace the Thunder. Wichita jumps ahead of Allen by one point for first place as the two teams will meet this Friday in Allen. The Thunder got off to a quick start, scoring three times in the first period. Kevin Seibel (2) scored first for Wichita at 6:43 on the power play.

Andrew Hoxie's hat trick against his former side helped propel the Wichita Wings to a 14-11 victory on Friday night. Hoxie scored the first goal of the night for the Wings to tie Rochester at 2.  He also scored late in the fourth quarter to help seal the win for the Wings.  Adrian Gonzalez followed less than two minutes later to give Wichita its first lead. Hoxie scored again to put Wichita back in front and Miguel Ferrer pushed their lead out to 8-5 at the close of the first half.

The Wichita Thunder lost 5-0 to the Mississippi RiverKings at the DeSoto Civic Center on Saturday night. RiverKings' winger Matt Summers scored a natural hat trick, while goaltender Alexander Pechurskiy worked a 27-save shutout.  It was the first time this season the Thunder has been shutout. Leading 1-0, Summers scored a pair of second period goals separated by 1:50 that helped Mississippi carve out a 3-0 lead.  Summers knocked in a backdoor pass from Lutz at 12:33 to convert a RiverKings' power play.

The Wichita Thunder lost 5-0 to the Missouri Mavericks in Game Two of the Opening Round at the Independence Events Center on Friday night. The best-of-five series is now tied 1-1 heading into Game Three on Saturday night. Brandon Coccimiglio scored a natural hat trick in the third, with all three goals coming on the power play, while Rob Nolan pitched his second shutout of the season against the Thunder, going 30 of 30. Leading 2-0 in the third, Coccimiglio scored at 5:57 on a close-range shot past Marc-Antoine Gelinas.  The Mavericks went up 4-0 at 12:35 when Coccimiglio re-directed Blake Forsyth's shot from the left point past Gelinas' right.  Coccimiglio completed the hat trick with 13.5 seconds left in the game, sneaking a loose puck under Gelinas' left pad. Missouri took their first lead of the series when Ryan Jardine scored on a breakaway at 6:04 in the first.  Jardine sped past the Thunder defense and used a forehand-backhand-forehand move to beat Gelinas to his right.

The Major Indoor Soccer League announced on Tuesday that Wichita Wings forward Jamar Beasley had been named the league's Player of the Week for the fifth week of the 2011-12 season. Beasley scored 13 points in two Wings victories against Norfolk and Syracuse last weekend, moving into sole possession of the league lead in scoring. Beasley had a hat trick, including a short-handed goal, and added a pair of assists as the Wings took victory against the Syracuse Silver Knights this past Friday night, then added two goals and an assist the following night in a victory against the Norfolk SharX.

Call it smothering defense or an offensive display. Either way, Wichita (25-14-3) out-dueled Denver (21-17-4) for the second-straight night in impressive fashion with a 7-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at INTRUST Bank Arena in front of 8,031 fans. Wichita out-scored Denver in two games this weekend 14-1 and limited the Cutthroats to 25 shots in two games. Matt Robinson led the way with five points, including his second hat trick in a Thunder uniform. The Thunder win-streak moves to four games and leads the season-series 3-1-0.  Wichita jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the back of three power play goals.

Andrew Hoxie's hat trick against his former side helped propel the Wichita Wings to a 14-11 victory on Friday night. Hoxie scored the first goal of the night for the Wings to tie Rochester at 2.  He also scored late in the fourth quarter to help seal the win for the Wings.  Adrian Gonzalez followed less than two minutes later to give Wichita its first lead. Hoxie scored again to put Wichita back in front and Miguel Ferrer pushed their lead out to 8-5 at the close of the first half.

Call it smothering defense or an offensive display. Either way, Wichita (25-14-3) out-dueled Denver (21-17-4) for the second-straight night in impressive fashion with a 7-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at INTRUST Bank Arena in front of 8,031 fans. Wichita out-scored Denver in two games this weekend 14-1 and limited the Cutthroats to 25 shots in two games. Matt Robinson led the way with five points, including his second hat trick in a Thunder uniform. The Thunder win-streak moves to four games and leads the season-series 3-1-0.  Wichita jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the back of three power play goals.

Behind a three-goal outing from Alex Bourret, Wichita took a 3-1 lead in its best-of-seven series with a 4-2 win over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees Thursday night at State Farm Arena. Wichita can close out the series at home on Saturday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. For the fourth time in this series, Rio Grande Valley scored first to take a 1-0 lead. Brady Leavold found a rebound in the left circle and beat Thunder starter Adam Russo with a power play goal. The two teams combined for six power plays and 20 minutes in the first period.

RG Flath recorded his first post-season hat trick and Thomas Beauregard added three assists to pace Wichita past Rio Grande Valley, 4-2. Wichita leads the best-of-seven-series 1-0 with Game two taking place on Sunday afternoon. Rio Grande Valley struck first with a power play goal at 13:45 of the first period. Chris Greene was called for tripping and the Bees capitalized as Mike Wilson's blast was tipped by Brandon Campos past Adam Russo to make it 1-0. Wichita seemed to have the upper-hand, outshooting the Bees 10-1 at one point and delivered a multitude of hits along the boards.

The Major Indoor Soccer League announced on Tuesday that Wichita Wings forward Kevin Ten Eyck had been named the league's Player of the Week for the final week of the 2011-12 regular season. Ten Eyck had 10 points in two games, including a hat trick in the Wings' final game of the season. Ten Eyck helped the Wings close out their season on a high note against Norfolk this past Sunday. With Wichita trailing the SharX 11-4 late in the third quarter, the 25-year-old fired in a 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining before the intermission to pull his side within two goals.

Chris Chappell recorded a hat trick and Matt Summers notched three points as Wichita (27-12-2) smothered Quad City (23-17-1) Sunday night, winning 5-1 in front of 9,401 fans at INTRUST Bank Arena. Wichita improves to 6-0-2 all-time against Quad City and 3-0-0 at home. Chris Chappell (4) gave Wichita the early lead as he came down the wall, cut across the goal line and followed up his own rebound at 13:06. Four minutes later, Matt Summers (13) stole it from the Mallard defender and sniped a wrist shot just under the cross bar to give Wichita a 2-0 lead.

Wichita (25-11-2) exploded for its highest scoring output of the season, winning 8-4 over the Arizona Sundogs (12-21-7) Wednesday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. Kevin Seibel recorded his first professional hat trick and Matt Summers added four assists to pace the Thunder. Wichita jumps ahead of Allen by one point for first place as the two teams will meet this Friday in Allen. The Thunder got off to a quick start, scoring three times in the first period. Kevin Seibel (2) scored first for Wichita at 6:43 on the power play.

The Wichita Wings of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) tonight's game in dominating fashion against the Syracuse Silver Knights.  Playing out of Hartman Arena, the Wings won to the tune of 20-4 in front of 2,700 fans. The game got out to a quick start when Syracuse struck first and fast with a goal by Cory Elenio just 12 seconds into the first quarter; but from there it was all Wichita. Jamar Beasley struck first for the Wings, scoring a nifty header against Silver Knights Goal Keeper Eric Reed.  Beasley's goal was followed by back to back goals by  Wings Midfielder Freddy Moojen, and the first quarter ended with a final score by Carlos “Chile” Farias to put the Wings up 8-2 after the first.

On Friday night the Wichita Thunder (6-1) look to extend their winning streak to 4 games when they face the Quad City Mallards (3-3) at Intrust Bank Arena. Colin Hemingway led the Thunder Wednesday night with a hat trick in the team's win over Rapid City. Wichita is currently leading the Berry Conference by two games over Tulsa.  The puck drops just after 7 pm Friday night at Intrust Bank Arena.