Rivermen Drop Wild Overtime Rematch Saturday

Photo Credit: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Drop Wild Overtime Rematch Saturday

Game-winner snaps Peoria winning streak in final second of overtime

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen netted an equalizer in the final minute of regulation but fell 6-5 in overtime to the Fayetteville Marksmen at Carver Arena Saturday. The loss, Peoria’s first since opening night at Quad City, moves the Rivermen into a second-place tie with the Birmingham Bulls before next weekend’s pair of games at Evansville.

The Marksmen opened the scoring for the second straight night with a first-period goal. Fayetteville winger Joe Osaka collected a feed from teammate Carl Greco on the inside of the left-wing circle of the Peoria zone, and snapped it past Peoria goaltender Mason Pulde for a 1-0 lead at 6:09 of the opening frame.

Peoria tied the game and took their first lead of the night with a pair of goals in the second half of the first period. At 13:45 of the frame, Rivermen captain Alec Hagaman finished a netfront sequence past Marksmen goaltender Alex Murray for a 1-1 tie. Peoria took the lead at 16:53 when Rivermen winger Mark Petaccio stole the puck from Murray, pulled back to the left circle of the Marksmen zone, and roofed a wrister past Murray for the 2-1 lead.

The Marksmen tied the game with a power-play tally in the first minute of the game’s second period. With Rivermen winger Austin Vieth boxed for holding, Marksmen center David Mazurek settled a rebound from a Jake Hauswirth point blast and popped it past Pulde for a 2-2 score 35 seconds into the second period.

The Rivermen re-took the lead with a power-play goal of their own 7:37 into the middle frame. With Marksmen center Tim Kielich on ice for hooking, Rivermen winger Joe Kalisz found the puck on his stick in the left circle of the Fayetteville zone and looped it up and over Murray’s shoulder and into the net for a 3-2 lead.

The Marksmen re-tired the game with a goal late in the second period. Fayetteville defenseman Kyle Thacker took the puck in the right-wing corner of the Rivermen zone, and put it to the slot, where Marksmen center Mike Casale fired it past Pulde for a 3-3 score at 14:01 of the period.

The Marksmen built a two-goal lead with a pair of goals early in the third period. At 6:02 of the period, Fayetteville winger Taylor Pryce dunked a 3-on-1 feed across the goalmouth past Pulde for a 4-3 lead. The Fayetteville edge grew to 5-3 at 11:41 of the third when Casale took a feed from teammate Shane Bennett between the circles and snapped it by Pulde.

The Rivermen battled back to tie the game with a pair of goals in the latter stages of the third period. At 12:50, Rivermen center Will Smith collected the puck off a blocked shot from teammate Ralfs Grinbergs and stuffed it past Murray for a 5-4 score. The Rivermen tied the game with Pulde off for an extra attacker in the game’s final minute when Hagaman finished a scramble in front of the Marksmen net with the equalizer at 19:05 of the third.

Fayetteville captured the game-winning goal with two-tenths of a second remaining in the five-minute sudden-death period. Pulde came out to the left-wing circle of his own zone to play a loose puck, and his pass ahead was intercepted by Marksmen center Darren McCormick and fired into the net for the 6-5 final score at 4:59 of overtime.

Pulde stopped 20 of 26 shots, taking the overtime loss in net to fall to 2-0-2 on the season. Six goals allowed in a game marked a new career-high for the Rivermen netminder, topping his previous mark of four on October 20 at Quad City.

Notes: Grinbergs’ two assists in the game ties a career-long run with a point or more in four straight games…Kalisz had a goal and two assists, giving his first three-point game since December 11, 2016 as a member of the Fayetteville FireAntz…The Rivermen return to action next Friday night when they travel to Evansville, IN to play a pair of games against the Thunderbolts at the Ford Center…Friday’s game will start at 7:15 PM, and the broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pregame show, at 6:55, at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/

Group, single game, and season tickets for Peoria's 37th 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)