Rivermen Walk Dawgs, Cruise to 6-1 Victory

April 6, 2018 7:15 pm

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Photo Credit: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Walk Dawgs, Cruise to 6-1 Victory

Six Rivermen record multi-point games Friday

 

Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen got two goals and an assist from winger Alec Hagaman as he paced the William B. Coffey trophy winners to a 6-1 victory at Carver Arena over the visiting Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs Friday night. With the win the Rivermen improve to 38-12-5 on the season good for 81 points before tomorrow night’s regular season finale.

 

The Rivermen kicked the scoring off just past the midway point of the opening period. Rivermen winger Keegan Bruce sent a cross-ice pass to Hagaman, who received the pass and raced into the right wing of the Roanoke zone. Hagaman circled behind the net and wrapped the puck around the left post behind Rail Yard Dawgs netminder Brad Barone for the 1-0 Rivermen lead at 10:26 of the first period.

 

The Rail Yard Dawgs evened the score in the late stages of the first period while on the power play. With Hagaman serving an interference penalty, Roanoke entered the Rivermen zone, and a mishandled clearing attempt found Roanoke winger Colin Murray, who snapped the puck past Rivermen goaltender Tyler Parks to tie the game 1-1 at 18:43 of the first period.

 

The Rivermen regained the lead for good with a power-play goal of their own toward the midway point of the season period. With Roanoke defenseman Joe Sova boxed for roughing, Rivermen winger Joe Kalisz took the puck behind the net and fed it out front to Connor Gorman, who snapped a shot past Barone for the eventual game-winner at 9:01 of the frame.

 

The Rivermen added a pair of tallies after the midway point of the second frame. Rivermen winger Jordan Carvalho won a draw in the Roanoke zone and the puck squirted to winger Michael Economos, who slipped a pass to Peoria defenseman Ben Oskroba on the left point, where he rifled a shot that skidded past Barone for the 3-1 Rivermen advantage at 13:53. Peoria added to their lead with another goal late in the middle stanza when Kalisz corralled a pass from Oskroba, skated through the slot from left wing to right,  and snapped a shot from a sharp angle just above the right-wing corner that bounced in off new Roanoke goaltender Matt Zenzola’s shoulder and into the back of the net for the 4-1 Rivermen lead at 16:50 of the second period.

 

The Rivermen continued to build their lead with a pair of third-period tallies, the first coming just beyond the 10 minute mark of the final frame. Carvalho gathered the puck, which had previously been left behind the Roanoke net by Zenzola. Carvalho skated towards the left corner and sent a quick pass between the circles, where Hagman snapped a shot past a diving Zenzola and into the back of the net for the 5-1 Rivermen lead at 11:17 of the final frame. The second goal of the period came as the Rivermen were returning to full strength. Hagaman sent a long pass up ice to defenseman Geoff Fortman as he cleared the box. Fortman then raced into the Roanoke zone 2-on-1 with teammate Keegan Bruce, and Fortman shipped a pass across the high slot to Bruce, who wound up and faked a shot, instead sending a pass back to Fortman, who snapped it past Zenzola’s left leg and into the back of the net to increase the Rivermen lead to 6-1 at 15:45 of the final period.

 

Parks earned the victory between the pipes for Peoria, stopping 18 of 19 shots faced. With the win, the Imperial, MO native improves to 12-3-2 on the season and earns his second consecutive victory in goal.

 

Notes: With his first period goal, Hagaman became the first Rivermen player to record 25 goals in a season since Garrett Vermeersch did so in 2013-14…Oskroba has two goals in his last two outings….Gorman is in the midst of a four-game point streak dating back to  March 25 vs Evansville…Fortman scored his first goal since rejoining the Rivermen March 30…The Rivermen return to action Saturday night as they rematch the Rail Yard Dawgs at Carver Arena, faceoff is set for 7:15 p.m.…Saturday night’s game is Peoria’s annual CEFCU Fan Fest, with the first 3,000 fans through the door receiving a Rivermen team photo….Saturday night also features a post-game autograph session with Rivermen players on the Carver Arena concourse following the game…The broadcast of the game can be heard, starting with the pre-game show, at 6:55 p.m. at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/

 

Group, single game, and season tickets for Peoria's 36th 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)