Gorman’s Pair Lift Rivermen to Fourth Straight

Photo Credit: Tim Lester/Peoria Rivermen

Gorman’s Pair Lift Rivermen to Fourth Straight

Peoria returns home Sunday to conclude season series with Thunderbolts

Evansville, IN – For the second straight night the Rivermen shot down the Evansville Thunderbolts, coming away with a 5-3 victory at the Ford Center in Evansville, IN. The victory is Peoria’s third straight against Evansville, and keeps the Rivermen in third place in the SPHL standings at 22-10-9 with 53 points on the season.

The Rivermen got on the board early in the opening period. At the 4:20 mark Rivermen winger Cody Dion raced down the right-wing boards with teammate Connor Gorman racing down the left side. Dion then slid a pass across the top of the crease to Gorman, who tapped the puck past Thunderbolts goaltender Tanner Milliorn for a quick 1-0 Rivermen lead.

Evansville evened the score at 13:06 of the first period. Thunderbolts winger Mark Petaccio flicked a wrister on goal and was redirected by Evansville winger Dave Williams, parked in front of the crease, past Rivermen goaltender Storm Phaneuf to tie the game at one.

The Rivermen regained the lead and added to it through the rest of the first period. 28 seconds After Williams scored, Rivermen winger Alec Hagaman put a shot on goal that was turned aside by Milliron. The ensuing rebound came right to Peoria center Garrett Vermeersch, who popped it past Milliron’s right pad for a 2-1 Rivermen advantage. Peoria added to their lead with 33 seconds remaining in the period. While on the power play, Rivermen defenseman Ben Oskroba fired a shot towards the net that was deflected by Jeff Jones, and past Milliron at 19:27, for a 3-1 Rivermen lead after the first 20 minutes.

The Thunderbolts drew within one early in the second period. At 1:38 Evansville center Stephon Thorne attempted a wraparound that was denied by Phaneuf, but the rebound skipped out to Williams, who wristed the puck past an outstretched Phaneuf to cut the Rivermen lead 3-2. The second period would conclude with the Rivermen hanging onto a one-goal lead.

The Rivermen doubled their lead nearly halfway through the final period of regulation. Gorman and Dakota Klecha raced into their offensive zone 2-on-1 with a Thunderbolts defender. The Rivermen tandem played catch before Klecha slipped a final pass across the top of the crease to Gorman, who stuffed the puck past Milliron for a 4-2 Rivermen lead at 9:16 of the period. Klecha added an insurance tally at 15:13 of the third. Chaos overtook the Evansville slot, and Peoria center Michael Colantone worked the puck to Klecha on the inside edge of the right circle, where he fired a shot past Milliron’s glove for a 5-2 lead.. The Rivermen hung on the final five minutes for the 5-2 victory.

Phaneuf stopped 24 of 26 shots faced in the victory, and improves to 6-4-2 on the season. The win is Phaneuf’s third consecutive triumph over Evansville.

Notes: With their goal in the first period, the Thunderbolts erased a scoreless streak by Phaneuf of 128:04 dating back to Tuesday night’s game in Evansville…Oskroba assisted on Peoria’s second and third goals in the first period for the first multi-assist game of his career….Saturday was also Oskroba’s first multi-point game since January 22 of last season, when he had a goal and an assist at Columbus….Klecha’s third period goal is his second in as many games since coming off the IR on this week….The Rivermen return to action Sunday evening when they return home to Carver Arena to conclude the three game weekend series against the Thunderbolts…It will be a PNC Family Fun Sunday at Carver Arena, with $1 tickets available for kids 12 & under, a pregame fun fest in the PCC Great Hall, and $1 hot dogs throughout the contest…Sunday’s game starts at 5:05 p.m.…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show, at 4:45 p.m. at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/

Group, single game, and season tickets for Peoria's 35th 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)