Rivermen Pile on in Second Period, Top Thunderbolts 7-2 Sunday
February 26, 2017 5:05 pm
Evansville Thunderbolts
Photo Credit: Bob Hunt/Peoria Rivermen
Rivermen Pile on in Second Period, Top Thunderbolts 7-2 Sunday
Career-high five-point night from Greenside help Rivermen to fifth straight
Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen scored five goals in the second period as they wrapped up their season series with a 7-2 win over the Evansville Thunderbolts Sunday evening. The win, Peoria’s fifth straight, improves the Rivermen to 23-10-9 on the season ahead of a three-game home weekend with Roanoke.
It took the Rivermen less than two minutes to light the lamp in the opening period. Rivermen winger Dakota Klecha fed a pass to Peoria defenseman Brandon Greenside along the right-wing boards in the offensive zone. Greenside received the puck, walked to the high slot and snapped a wrister that beat Thunderbolts goaltender Michael Doan at 1:54 for a 1-0 lead.
The Rivermen doubled their lead in the closing seconds of the first period. With Greenside carrying the puck into the left circle, he fired a shot on goal. Doan made the initial save, but spit out a rebound. The puck skipped around to the right of the crease, and from a heap of bodies Rivermen winger Connor Gorman slipped the puck past an outstretched Doan at 19:52, and a 2-0 Rivermen advantage through one period.
The Rivermen added to their lead on a five-minute power play early in the second period. After Evansville defenseman Cory Melkert was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for charging, Rivermen center Garrett Vermeersch took a shot from the right circle. Doan deflected the shot right to Rivermen winger Cody Dion, who snapped the puck past Doan’s blocker at 3:24 for a 3-0 Rivermen lead. The Rivermen added another tally at 6:18 when Justin Hoomaian and Jeff Jones raced into the offensive zone. Jones slipped a pass from the left wing across the slot to Hoomaian, who deflected the puck past Doan’s glove for a 4-0 Rivermen lead.
The Thunderbolts got on the board at 8:23 of the middle frame. Evansville defenseman Bo Driscoll put a pass towards the low slot, where Evansville winger Al Graves, who snapped the puck past goaltender Rivermen goaltender Tyler Parks to cut into the Rivermen lead 4-1.
Peoria added three more goals in the remainder of the second period. Dion picked up a loose puck in the left corner threw it to the front of the net, where it got tangled in Doan’s feet and trickled just past the goal line for a 5-1 lead. Peoria made it 6-1 when winger Alec Hagaman sniped past Doan from atop the right circle for a power-play goal at 13:10 of the period. The Rivermen scored their final goal of the period at 16:49. Rivermen center Michael Colantone put a shot on goal that was stopped by new Thunderbolts goaltender Tanner Milliron, but the rebound found Gorman, who shoveled the puck into an empty net for a 7-1 advantage. The Thunderbolts added a lone goal from winger Dave Williams at 16:59 of the third for the eventual 7-2 final score.
Parks stopped 26 of 28 shots faced in his first SPHL action since January. With the win, Parks improves to 6-4-4 on the season, and the victory is his first since a 5-4 triumph against Macon on January 14th.
Notes: Greenside set new career highs in points with 5, and assists with 4…The Rivermen had 7 players register a multi-point game….For the second straight game, Gorman had two goals against Evansville…In the three game weekend series, Peoria outscored Evansville 15-4….The Rivermen return to action Friday night when they welcome the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs to Carver Arena for the first time ever to play the first of a three-game, three-night series…March 3rd is Rivermen T-shirt giveaway night for the first 1,000 fans, presented by Western Illinois University….Friday’s game starts at 7:05 Central Time…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show, at 6:45 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)
