Friday round-up: Jackalopes get first NAHL win

The Odessa Jackalopes earned their first NAHL victory 5-3 Friday night over the Corpus Christi IceRays at Ector County Coliseum. Thanks to four first period goals, the Jackalopes took an early lead that they never relinquished, maintaining their advantage on the scoreboard the entire game.

Newly named assistant captain Willie Faust got the scoring started for the Jacks at 7:10 of the first period, tallying his first goal of the season on feeds from Jalen Krogman and Darren Lapic to make it 1-0 Jacks. Odessa center Ryan Atkinson followed suit just 38 seconds later, notching his second of the season for a 2-0 Jackalopes lead. Thanks to additional first period tallies from Tyler Mix and newcomer Chad Hennum, the Jacks entered the second period up 4-1.

After a lone Corpus Christi goal in the second, the scoring picked back up in the third period, as the IceRays drew within a goal at 4-3 thanks to Eric Purcell’s third and fourth goals of the season, but Jacks netminder Connor Hellebuyck shut the door late, stopping 32 of the 35 shots he faced to earn his first win of 2011-12. Willie Faust added an insurance marker at 15:00 of the third period, his second of the game and the season, to seal the deal for the Jacks in a 5-3 win.

NAHL scores and results for Friday, September 30th