Mavericks beat Heartlanders 4-2

by Bill Althaus, Grain Valley News


Seeing is believing.

Just ask any of the 3,197 vocal fans who attended the Kansas City Mavericks 4-2 victory over the Iowa Heartlanders Wednesday night at Cable Dahmer Arena.

Jackson Berezowski scored a back-handed, game-winning goal that ranks among the top goals in Mavericks history.

And the Mavericks defender hopes that someone got a photo of his one-in-a-million game-winning goal Wednesday night at Cable Dahmer.

Joining Berezowski in the spotlight were Casey Carreau, who had his first two-goal game of the season, goaltender Logan Terness and the Mavericks entire defensive unit as they dominated the Heartlanders.

Iowa led 1-0 when the Jake McLaughlin scored a short-handed goal at 11:33 of the second quarter to even the score at 1-1.

Carreau scored his first of two goals at 4:33 of the third quarter when his power play goal gave the Mavericks their first lead of the game.

Then, at 6:01, Berezowski scored on a 360 back handed shot that defied the laws of physics.

"That is the first goal I've ever seen like that," a grinning coach Tad O'Had said after his team improved to 12-6.

"I want to see a replay, or a photo. And the simple fact that it was the game-winning goal added to its significance.

"This was a big win for our team and nice rebound from Saturday's 5-1 loss at Wichita. I'm proud of the way the guys competed tonight."

Berezowski asked Mavericks director of public relations Emma Wiley is she was aware of a photo that captured the special moment.

She assured Berezowski that she would contact the team photographers and videographer to see what she could come up with.

"I saw some space in front of the net," Berezowski said, "put the puck on my stick and somehow found the back of the net. I just scored - and I don't really know how I did it. I've never attempted a back-hand shot like that, and probably never will again. I don't know where the goal stands in the history of the organization, but it's the best goal I've ever scored."

Carreau finished the big offensive night with a goal at 17:47 that put an explanation point on the night.

"This was a great collaborative effort," Carreau said. "A lot of different guys got in on scoring, Logan was amazing in the net and I finally scored a couple of goals. And when you score two goals in a 4-2 win, it feels great."

Terness stopped 17 of 19 shots on goal and praised his teammates following the home win.

"This win is even more special because we gave our fans their money's worth tonight," Terness said. "The guys playing in front of me were awesome. When my teammates are giving that type of effort, it makes you want to work even harder to reward them with a win."
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