Tempers Rise on Knoxville Ice
January 13, 2013 - SPHL (SPHL)
Knoxville Ice Bears News Release
Knoxville, TN - The Knoxville Ice Bears fell to the Columbus Cottonmouths 4-1 in front of a crowd of 4,271 in Knoxville. The Ice Bears out shot Columbus 37-26, but could only put one goal past Columbus' goaltender Andrew Loewen.
Columbus scored the first goal at 11:42 on a power play from the right side post. Jordan Braid was waiting on the backside for a pass from Matt Gingera and fired it into the top shelf.
Columbus' John Sullivan scored their second unanswered goal of the game 9:08 into the second. Sullivan snuck in a shot past the Knoxville goaltenders, Peter Skoggard, stick side. The first fight of the game quickly followed the goal after Cottonmouth Gingera crosschecked Ice Bear Dan Bremner. Fifteen seconds later, Brett Valliquette and Levi Lind joined them in the penalty box after their fight in the Cottonmouths defensive zone.
The second period was the most eventful of the night, but not because of the score. A total of 53 penalty minutes were awarded to each team throughout the period.
The tension rose even more between the teams when Ice Bear fan favorite Brad Pawlowski dropped his gloves with the puck to pummel Cottonmouth Chris Bailer. Pawlowski hyped the crowd as he skated off the ice for the rest of the period. Shortly after, Ice Bear Jeremy Klaver was also involved in an altercation with Columbus, which got him five for fighting.
After all the penalties awarded to Knoxville in the second period, Knoxville's Coach Mike Craigen had an intense disagreement with referee Joshua Greco that resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and an ejection from the game.
Columbus ended the second period with a two on one goal scored by a backdoor wrist shot fired by Lind.
Knoxville came out of the locker room on fire and answered Columbus with a goal by Tyler Fernandez 4:05 in the third. Teammate Eric Satim dug the puck out from behind the net and fed it to Fernandez who was waiting with his wrist shot from inside the slot making it a two-goal game. Columbus' Jason Yuel answered back 16:10 into the third solidifying their 4-1 victory. Knoxville battled hard but couldn't overcome the Cottonmouth's lead.
The Ice Bears will be back on home ice on Friday, Jan. 18 for Civic Employee Appreciation Night. Contact the Ice Bears office for discounted tickets if you are an employee of the state. The Ice Bears will also play at home on Saturday, Jan. 19 for the annual Baby Derby. Puck drops at 7:30 pm.
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- Tempers Rise on Knoxville Ice - Knoxville Ice Bears
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