Jacks expect a fight out of Allen

BY LEE SCHEIDE (www.oaoa.com)

Several of the Odessa Jackalopes front office and coaches traveled to Allen on Tuesday night to watch the Americans host Laredo in Game 6 of their Southern Conference semifinals series, a game that Allen needed to win to stay alive.

The Americans did and when the Jackalopes officials returned, general manager Joe Clark proclaimed that Allen would again be victorious on Wednesday in Game 7, thereby setting up a matchup with Odessa in the Southern Conference Finals.

Got any lottery numbers, Joe?

The Americans did indeed defeat the Bucks 4-1 in Game 7 to clinch their series. They traveled to the Permian Basin on Thursday and at 7:05 tonight, the Jackalopes and Allen will play Game 1 of the best-of-7 series at the Ector County Coliseum.

Game 2 is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Saturday, with Games 3, 4 and 5 in Allen on April 14, 16 and 17, respectively.

“I think that Allen is a very good team,” coach Paul Gillis said. “They had a great season and were battling us for the top spot in the conference the entire way.

“They may be a little tired, but that’s not going to stop them from coming in here and trying to win. We are going to have to prepared to play 60 minutes.”

The Jackalopes defeated the Texas Brahmas 4-2 in their conference semifinal, having to rally from a 2-0 deficit after losing both games at home to open the series.

It’s a start that they likely cannot afford to have against the Americans, who were solid on the road and nearly as good as the Jackalopes at home, fashioning a 23-5-4 mark at the Allen Event Center.

Odessa did win three of the four meetings with the Americans this season, but last saw Allen on Dec. 22. The Americans’ lone victory came in November at Ector County Coliseum, so they know how to win there.

“They have a good club,” Jackalopes defenseman Alex Dunn said. “I don’t think they’ve made many changes to the team since we saw them, so they play well together.

“We had a tough series against Texas and I think that’s going to help us in the next round and the rest of the playoffs. We’ve been through all the situations.”

The line of Collin Circelli, Sebastien Thinel and Jeff Pierce has led the Jackalopes so far this postseason, combining for 11 goals and 18 assists, including Circelli’s series-clinching goal in overtime Monday against Texas.

Thinel has 12 points (5-7), Pierce has 10 (4-6) and Circelli has seven (2-5), as does Dominic Leveille (1-6). In all, Odessa has 15 players that have scored at least one point in this year’s playoffs.

Allen also has a strong offensive line in Justin Bowers, Bruce Graham and Nino Musitelli, who have combined for 27 points (10-17) so far this postseason. Musitelli has four goals and Graham and Bowers have contributed three each to help the first-year club to the conference final.

“Any team you face at this point of the season is going to be good,” Jackalopes goaltender Joel Martin said. “We had a tough series with Texas and we all expect the next series to be tough as well.

“We’re confident that we have a team that can win the championship.”