Rivermen Earn Hard-Fought Game 1 Win Wednesday

Rivermen Earn Hard-Fought Game 1 Win Wednesday

Peoria surrenders first goal, lead for final 42:30 of play

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen fell behind early and battled throughout the first two periods as they earned a 5-2 victory over the Huntsville Havoc in Game 1 of the Presidents Cup Semi Finals at Carver Arena Wednesday night. The win, Peoria’s fourth in a row, gives them the chance to advance to the Presidents Cup Finals for the second straight season with a win in Friday’s Game 2 at Huntsville.

The Havoc started the scoring in the first half of the game’s first period. After back-and-forth play at both ends of the ice, the puck bounced from the left corner of the Rivermen zone into the slot, where Havoc forward John Clewlow snapped it by Rivermen goaltender Storm Phaneuf for a 1-0 lead at 7:08 of the first.

The Rivermen answered back with a pair of goals in the latter stages of the first period. With Rivermen winger Dakota Klecha carrying into the right wing of the Havoc zone, his shot was turned away by Havoc goaltender Tyler Steel, and the rebound was popped home by Peoria veteran Adam Stuart to tie the game at the 15:52 mark of the period. Minutes later, with the puck in the left corner of the Rivermen zone, Peoria winger Cody Dion carried out above the goal line and rifled a shot past Steel and under the crossbar to give the Rivermen a 2-1 lead at 17:30 of the first.

The Rivermen increased their lead to 3-1 with a power-play tally toward the midway point of the second period. With Havoc winger Blake Hietala in the box for slashing, Dion took a shot from the left circle, and the ensuing rebound was powered past Steel and into the net at 8:33 of the second.

The Havoc got the score back within a goal at the 14:15 marker of period number two. With Rivermen winger Alec Hagaman boxed for boarding, Huntsville worked the puck to the high slot of the Rivermen zone, and Havoc defenseman Nolan Kaiser’s shot was blocked in the center of the zone, and changed directions several times before it was whacked past Phaneuf to cut the Rivermen lead to 3-2.

The Rivermen pushed their lead back to a two-goal advantage in the closing minutes of the second period. Rivermen defenseman Brandon Greenside sent a pass through neutral ice to teammate Connor Gorman, and the rookie winger carried into the high right wing of the Huntsville zone and fired a shot past Steel’s blocker for a 4-2 lead at 18:28 of the second.

The Rivermen added an insurance tally on the power play early in the third stanza. With Havoc blueliner Justin Tateson in the sin bin for cross-checking, Greenside skated the puck from the left point of the Huntsville zone and blasted a slapper past Steel for a 5-2 Rivermen lead at 2:06 of the third.

Phaneuf stopped 26 of 28 shots faced to earn his third straight postseason win between the pipes for the Rivermen. The Gatineau native remains undefeated in net, and his 1.33 GAA leads all SPHL netminders this postseason.

Notes: Dion notched his second career SPHL multi-point playoff game, and the first since he recorded a goal and an assist at Macon April 13 last postseason…Rivermen defenseman Dave Pszenyczny had a pair of assists for his second multi-point performance of the postseason…Rivermen winger Jeff Jones recorded an assist on Greenside’s goal for his first point against his former team…Greenside had a goal and two assists, giving him six points and a +8 rating in three playoff games…The Rivermen and Havoc will return to action Friday night when they play Game 2 of the Best-of-3 Presidents Cup Semi Final series at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville at 7 PM …The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show at 6:45, on 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)