Hagaman’s Overtime Penalty Shot Lifts Rivermen to Sixth Straight

Photo Credit: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen

Hagaman’s Overtime Penalty Shot Lifts Rivermen to Sixth Straight

Peoria battles back to tie it late before Hagaman’s OT heroics

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen rallied to erase a late deficit before Alec Hagaman converted an overtime penalty shot to send Peoria to a 3-2 win over the Knoxville Ice Bears at Carver Arena Saturday night. The win, Peoria’s sixth in a row, keeps the Rivermen two points behind first-place Pensacola before next weekend’s home-and-home pair with Evansville.

The Ice Bears opened the scoring just before the midway point of the opening period. While working the puck through the Rivermen zone, Ice Bears defenseman Jake Flegel directed the puck towards the net. Rivermen goaltender Tyler Parks made the initial stop, but the puck slipped over the goal line to give the Ice Bears the 1-0 edge at 8:21 of the first period.

The Rivermen drew even just past the midway point of the first period while on the power play. With Ice Bears winger Berkley Scott in the sin bin for hooking, the Ice Bears attempted to clear the puck. The biscuit took an awkward bounce off the glass, and Rivermen winger Dakota Klecha caught the puck, and controlled it down to the goal line. Klecha then fed a pass across the goalmouth to teammate Mike Gurtler, who stuffed the puck into the back of the net to even the score 1-1 at 11:58 of the opening period.

Knoxville regained their lead late in the middle period while on the power play. With Rivermen defenseman Dave Pszenyczny sitting for a slashing call, Ice Bears winger Garret Clemment collected the puck in the left wing of the Peoria zone and sent a pass across the top of the crease where teammate Lawrence Cornellier collected it and shoved it into the back of the net for the power-play goal and 2-1 advantage at 12:18 of the second period.

The Rivermen evened the score just prior to the halfway point of the third period while the teams were skating at even strength. Newly acquired Rivermen center Dustin Jesseau collected a loose puck along the left-wing boards of the Knoxville zone and fired a shot past Knoxville netminder Troy Davenport to tie the score at 2-2 at 9:51 of the third period. The score remained tied through the rest of regulation and descended into overtime.

The Rivermen netted the game-winner on a penalty shot late in the overtime period. Rivermen Hagaman collected a long pass from teammate Jacob Barber and broke into the Knoxville zone on a breakaway, skating in on Davenport before he was hauled down from behind by a Ice Bears defender. Hagaman was awarded a penalty shot on the play, on which he carried in, deked Davenport out, and buried the puck into the net for the 3-2 win, officially at 3:05 of overtime.

Parks earned the victory in goal for the Rivermen, taking it his 7^th consecutive victrory between the pipes. The win improves Parks to 7-1-0 overall on the season.

Notes:  Hagaman extended his point-scoring streak to 15 games…Jesseau scored his first goal in his second game with the Rivermen…The Rivermen return to action Friday, January 12^th as they welcome the Evansville Thunderbolts to Carver Arena for a 7:15 p.m. faceoff…Friday is Peoria’s annual Star Wars Night, with specialty jerseys worn by the Rivermen and auctioned off postgame…Star Wars characters will also be in attendance…Tickets are available for the game by calling the Rivermen office at (309)-676-1040…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show, at 6:55 p.m. at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/

Group, single game, and season tickets for Peoria's 36th season of professional hockey presented by Midwest Orthopaedic Center are on sale at the Toyota Box Office in the Peoria Civic Center, or by phone at the Rivermen office, located at 201 S.W. Jefferson Street, or over the phone at (309) 676-1040. For the latest Rivermen news and notes, follow online at www.rivermen.net or through Facebook (www.facebook.com/PeoriaRivermen) - Twitter(https://twitter.com/Peoria_Rivermen)