Snakes Win Streak At Three; Four Games In Five Nights This Week

Published on December 27, 2010 under SPHL (SPHL)
Columbus Cottonmouths News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga. - The Columbus Cottonmouths extended their winning streak to three games with a pair of wins last night, defeating Augusta at home 6-2 on Thursday night and going on the road to beat Fayetteville 4-3 on Sunday. The Snakes have a very busy week ahead with four games in five nights, although the games are against just two different teams. The Louisiana IceGators will face Columbus for the first time this season in the Snake Pit on Tuesday night and will return for a New Year's Eve date with the Snakes on Friday night. The lone road game of the week will feature the Cottonmouths traveling to Pensacola Thursday night to face the Ice Flyers, with Pensacola making the return trip to Columbus on New Year's Day. All four games will be broadcast on America One Networks with both a video and audio feed, with a nominal fee for each game. A free audio-only webcast of the games is also available. Details can be found at www.cottonmouths.com. In addition, road games are now broadcast locally in the Columbus area on 106.9 WRCG-FM.

CURRENT RECORDS AND STATS

Last Week: 2-0(0)

Record: 10-13(2), 20 pts (T-5th, SPHL)

67 GF, 72 GA

19.0% PP (5th, SPHL); 88.5% PK (1st, SPHL)

LAST WEEK'S TRANSACTIONS

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UPCOMING GAMES AND PROMOTIONS

Tuesday, December 28 - Louisiana at Columbus, 7:30 PM EST (Last Season vs. LOU: 2-4-1)

The Louisiana IceGators will play their first game this season against the Snakes on Tuesday night at the Snake Pit. Despite their last-place finish last season, the IceGators took five of the seven games between the two teams last season and were 2-1-0 in Columbus. It will be only the fifth game of the season for Louisiana away from the I-10 corridor. Only four of the IceGators' 25 games so far this season have been at a rink outside of Louisiana, Mississippi, or Pensacola; Louisiana swept a weekend at Fayetteville on November 19 and 20 and dropped a pair at Huntsville and Knoxville on December 17 and 18, respectively. For the second straight season, the IceGators have endured a midseason coaching change as Dave MacIsaac was fired by the team last week. Former ECHL IceGator Chris Valicevic, who has made a home in Lafayette, has been filling in as head coach on an interim basis.

PROMOTIONS: $2 Beer; Post-game party with the Snakes at B. Merrells on Veterans Parkway.

Thursday, December 30 - Columbus at Pensacola, 8:05 PM EST (Season Series vs. PEN: 1-2(1))

In another scheduling quirk this season, the Snakes make their final trip to Pensacola in the regular season on Thursday night to face the Ice Flyers. Columbus is 1-1 so far in Pensacola this season, losing in overtime 4-3 on December 3 and winning 6-3 on December 10. Snakes forward Jesse Cole will have fond memories of

Pensacola this season; he scored a goal to tie the game on December 3 and send it to overtime and had a four-goal performance in the December 10 victory.

Friday, December 31 - Louisiana at Columbus, 7:30 PM EST

The Snakes will close out 2010 on Friday night with their second straight home game against the Louisiana IceGators. Friday's game will begin a streak of seven of nine games at home for the Cottonmouths; for Louisiana, this game is sandwiched between two home games in Lafayette on Thursday and New Year's Day against the Knoxville Ice Bears. The two teams will face each other again in two weeks when the Snakes make their first visit to the Cajundome in a back-to-back series on January 14 and 15.

PROMOTIONS: New Year's Eve Balloon Drop - chance to win great prizes!

Saturday, January 1 - Pensacola at Columbus, 7:30 PM EST

For the second straight year, the Snakes will face Pensacola on New Year's Day at the Snake Pit. It will be the first visit to Columbus for the Ice Flyers since the season opener on October 22, a 7-3 Pensacola victory. After Saturday's game, the Cottonmouths and Ice Flyers will meet just twice more in the regular season, with games the following Saturday, January 8, and Saturday, February 12, both in the Columbus Civic Center.

PROMOTIONS: Calendar Poster Giveaway - first 1000 fans. Post-game autograph session.

COTTONMOUTHS WEEK IN REVIEW

Thursday, December 23 - Augusta 2 at Columbus 6 (Attendance: 2,495)

The Cottonmouths matched their season high with a six-goal output on Thursday night, scoring five unanswered goals to begin the game en route to a 6-2 win at the Snake Pit. Six different Columbus players lit the lamp, with Jesse Cole, Brent Clarke, Brett Hammond, Matt Kinnunen, Kyle Lundale, and Daryl Moore all scoring once each. Lundale's and Moore's goals were both shorthanded tallies; Columbus had only scored one shorthanded goal the entire season prior to Thursday's game. Ian Vigier picked up the victory in net for Columbus with 23 saves on 25 shots. Jordan McLaughlin started the game as Augusta's goaltender, making 18 saves on 23 shots in the first two periods of the game before being spelled by Jon Olthuis in the third period, who would stop 6 of 7 shots on goal. Both the Cottonmouths and RiverHawks were scoreless on the power play with Augusta having six chances with the man advantage and Columbus four.

Sunday, December 26 - Columbus 4 at Fayetteville 3 (Attendance: 2,037)

Jesse Cole scored the first goal of the game and added a power play marker which turned out to be the game-winner in a 4-3 win over Fayetteville on Sunday, the Snakes' second win in as many games at the Crown Coliseum this season. Matt Kinnunen and Jeff MacPhee also scored for the Cottonmouths. Andrew Loewen made 38 saves on 41 shots on goal for the win in goal for Columbus, while Fayetteville's Travis Yonkman turned away 32 of the 36 shots on goal he faced in the loss for the FireAntz. Both teams scored twice on the power play as the Snakes had five chances on the PP and the FireAntz had six.

THREE STARS OF THE WEEK

1. F Jesse Cole - Cole had two points in each game last week with a goal and an assist in Thursday's win against Augusta and two goals in Sunday's win at Fayetteville.

2. F Matt Kinnunen - Kinnunen stretched his team-leading point streak to five games with a goal each on Thursday and Sunday.

3. F Brett Hammond - Hammond had a three-point game on Thursday with a goal and two assists and added an assist on Sunday at Fayetteville.

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