Late Rivermen Rally Comes Up Short Against RiverKings Saturday

February 4, 2017 7:05 pm

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Photo Credit: Nick Eminian/Peoria Rivermen

Late Rivermen Rally Comes Up Short Against RiverKings Saturday

Loss gives Peoria split weekend before trip to Pensacola

 

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen gave up a pair of goals in each of the final two periods, and were unable to finish off a late extra-attacker rally as they fell 4-2 to the Mississippi RiverKings at Carver Arena Saturday night. The loss, coupled with a Macon win against Huntsville, drops the Rivermen into fourth place in the SPHL standings before a three-game series in Pensacola next weekend.

 

The first period was played without score before the RiverKings broke through with a pair in the second. RiverKings center Dillan Fox took a pass from teammate Ryan Marcuz, circled behind the Rivermen net, came out of the left corner, and flicked a low angle shot that beat Rivermen goaltender Tyler Green over the shoulder for a 1-0 lead at 9:32 of the period. Mississippi doubled their lead four minutes later when a clearing attempt pinballed atop the Peoria slot, where RiverKings winger Tyler Barr collected the puck and put a shot on goal that trickled in off the blocker of Green at 13:31 for a 2-0 RiverKings lead.

 

The Rivermen got on the scoreboard early in the final period. At 2:45 of the frame, Rivermen defenseman Brandon Greenside uncorked a shot that RiverKings goaltender Peter DiSalvo stopped. Rivermen center Michael Colantone one-timed DiSalvo’s rebound over the shoulder of the Mississippi netminder to cut the RiverKings lead to 2-1.

 

The RiverKings pushed their lead back to a pair at 17:24 of the third. RiverKings winger Mike Moran collected a loose puck in front of the Rivermen net, and slid the puck past an outstretched Green for a 3-1 RiverKings advantage.

 

The Rivermen once again cut into the Mississippi lead in the game’s final minute. With RiverKings defenseman Joe Sova serving a cross-checking penalty, and Green off the ice in favor of an extra attacker, Greenside put a shot on goal, resulting in a rebound that Rivermen forward Justin Hoomaian whacked past DiSalvo to make the score 3-2.

 

The Rivermen kept the goaltender pulled for an extra skater, and with five seconds left in the contest, RiverKings winger Matt Harrington slid the puck into the empty net for the 4-2 final score.

 

Green stopped 36 of 40 shots faced in the loss to drop to 10-2-3 on the season. The loss is Green’s first since November 12 against Huntsville.

 

Notes: Greenside recorded a pair of assists for his first multi-point game since January 22 at Evansville when he recorded two assists…Hoomaian scored his first goal since January 13 in a win against Macon…DiSalvo improves to 9-4-1 with a 2.32 GAA and a .927 save percentage lifetime against Peoria…The RiverKings are 12-0-1 when leading after two periods this season…The Rivermen return to action next Friday, February 10th when they travel to Pensacola to start a three-game series with the Ice Flyers…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)