Rivermen Drop Weekend Finale in Knoxville Saturday

March 9, 2019 6:30 pm

Away | Regular

Knoxville Ice Bears

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Photo Credit: Knoxville Ice Bears

Rivermen Drop Weekend Finale in Knoxville Saturday

Ice Bears cap season series sweep with 3-1 victory

 

Knoxville, TN – The Peoria Rivermen and Knoxville Ice Bears traded goals in the second period before Knoxville netted the eventual game-winner in the third en route to a 3-1 win Saturday at Knoxville Civic Coliseum. The loss, Peoria’s fourth in their last five outings, drops the Rivermen to 35-7-6 on the season, 10 points ahead of second-place Birmingham, before next weekend’s pair of games against the Bulls in Alabama.

The Ice Bears opened the scoring at even strength early in the second period. Ice Bears winger Lonnie Clary’s drive from the left point of the Rivermen zone sailed wide, and Knoxville’s Ricky Kramer shipped the end-wall rebound to the low right wing, where Bryce Nielsen popped it over Peoria netminder Storm Phaneuf for a 1-0 edge at 6:01 of the period.

 

The Rivermen knotted the game at a goal apiece just past the midway point of the contest. Rivermen captain Alec Hagaman carried the puck up the left-wing boards of the Knoxville zone, curled to the dot, and fired a wrister that was redirected by Justin Greenberg, past Ice Bears netminder Cody Porter at 11:53 of the second period.

 

The Ice Bears re-took the lead for good in the middle stages of the third period. Ice Bears winger Scott Cuthrell absorbed a check along the right-wing half boards of the Rivermen zone, and threw the puck to the far post, where teammate Stefan Brucato dunked it past Phaneuf for 2-1 at 7:19 of the frame. Knoxville added an empty-net goal from Bryce Nielsen at 18:32 of the third for the eventual 3-1 final score.

 

Notes: Greenberg’s second-period goal gave 11 points in his last 10 games…Peoria’s magic number to clinch first place remains seven points on Birmingham and six points on Huntsville after Huntsville’s victory over the Bulls…The Rivermen return to action next Friday and Saturday when they travel to the Pelham Civic Complex to play a pair of games against the second-place Birmingham Bulls…Friday’s game is set to start at 7:30 PM Central Time, with Saturday’s rematch scheduled for 7 PM…The broadcast of each game can be heard, starting with the pregame show 20 minutes prior to puck drop, at http://mixlr.com/peoria-rivermen/

 

Group, single game, and season tickets for Peoria's 37th 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)