Baer Nets Two as Rivermen Dominate Roanoke 5-1

January 7, 2022 - 09:15 pm

Jason Ruff

PEORIA, IL – It was a dominating performance by the Rivermen as they defeated the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs by a score of 5-1 at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia on Friday night.

The evening started off well for Peoria as they were able to get on the board in the first two minutes of the contest as Mitch McPherson deflected a shot in past Roanoke netminder Austyn Roudebush to make it 1-0 Peoria.

A few minutes later, Alec Baer netted his first goal of the night as he buried a rebound produced by a Cody Dion shot. The Rail Yard Dawgs pulled within one less than two minutes later on a one-timed shot to trim the Rivermen lead to 2-1.

In the second period though, the Rivermen took control of the game due in large part to Alec Hagaman. Just over seven minutes into the second period, the Rivermen lost an offensive draw but Hagaman stripped the puck back and found himself in all alone in the low slot. Hagaman pulled off a quick deke from his forehand to his backhand and deposited the puck into the back of the net for his 20^th point in ten games. That goal proved to be the back-breaker as the Rivermen dictated the pace of play for the remainder of the night. Peoria extended their lead to 4-1 in the final two minutes of the second period off of a power-play goal by Marcel Godbout, whose shot from the top of the right circle sailed in over the shoulder of Roudebush.

Both teams had little success on the power play in the third period but Alec Baer was able to extend the lead to 5-1 off of a wrist shot from the left-wing side for his second goal of the night.

With the 5-1 victory, the Rivermen picked up their first road win of 2022. In addition, Peoria has scored four goals or more in five of their last six games, and are now victorious in their last three road contests.

The Rivermen will look for their first weekend road sweep of the season against Roanoke on Saturday night at 7:05 pm eastern, 6:05 pm central.