Rivermen Complete Sweep of Ice Bears, Advance to Semi Finals

April 14, 2017 6:30 pm

Away | Post

Knoxville Ice Bears

Final
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Ice
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Rivermen
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Photo Credit: Michelle Jephcot/Knoxville Ice Bears

Rivermen Complete Sweep of Ice Bears, Advance to Semi Finals

Gorman, Colantone record three-point nights as Rivermen move on

 

Knoxville, TN – The Peoria Rivermen took a lead in the first minute of the first period and never looked back Friday night, cruising to a 5-1 win over the Knoxville Ice Bears at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. With the win, the Rivermen advance to the Presidents Cup Semi Finals against the winner of the Huntsville/Mississippi series.

 

The Rivermen took an early lead with the game’s first goal less than half a minute into the first period. With the puck behind the Knoxville net, Ice Bears goalie Greg Dodds played the puck out through the right corner. Rivermen winger Dakota Klecha picked the puck up along the right-wing wall and fed it to Connor Gorman. Gorman’s one-timer from below the hashmarks made it past Dodds for a 1-0 Rivermen lead just 25 seconds into the contest.

 

The Rivermen doubled their lead toward the middle phase of the first period. With the puck in the Ice Bears zone, Peoria worked it out to defenseman Brandon Greenside at the left point, and his wrister was deflected by Rivermen winger Cody Dion past Dodds for a 2-0 score at 8:31 of the first.

 

The Rivermen doubled their lead with a pair of goals in the opening minute of the second period. Gorman fired a feed from Colantone past Dodds 31 seconds into the period to push the Peoria lead to 3-0, and 21 seconds later Rivermen winger Jeff Jones slid a pass from behind the net to teammate Justin Hoomaian, who gave Peoria a 4-0 lead and chased Dodds from the contest 52 seconds into the second.

 

The Rivermen added another goal in the middle stages of the second period. Colantone carried the puck into the left wing of the Ice Bears zone, and worked it to the slot, where Rivermen defenseman Don Olivieri snapped it past new Knoxville goaltender Dylan Wells to make it 5-0 at 9:21 of the period.

 

The Ice Bears got on the board and broke the shutout bid of Peoria goaltender Storm Phaneuf at 6:35 of the third when Ice Bears winger Jake Rivera carried up the left-wing boards of the Rivermen zone, and his shot from the corner banked off Phaneuf’s shoulder and into the Peoria net for the eventual 5-1 final score.

 

Phaneuf stopped 26 of 27 shots faced to earn his second straight win of the postseason. The win keeps the Gatineau, Quebec native a perfect 2-0 in his professional playoff career.

 

Notes: Colantone recorded three assists for the second time in his SPHL career, and the first since February 26 against Evansville…Gorman recorded his second career three-point night with two goals and an assist, his previous three-point outing was in Knoxville November 18…The Rivermen will return to action next week when they begin a Best-of-3 Presidents Cup Semi Final series against the winner of the Mississippi/Huntsville series…Game 1 of the series will be Wednesday at the Peoria Civic Center, with Game 2 Friday in either Huntsville or Mississippi with time to-be-determined, and Game 3, if necessary, will be Saturday, April 22, at Carver Arena…Tickets for Game 1 will go on sale Monday morning through the Rivermen office…The broadcast of Wednesday’s game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show at 6:45, 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)