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RiverKings' Rally Comes up Short vs. Rivermen

March 20, 2015 - SPHL (SPHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, Miss. - The Mississippi RiverKings (31-19-2) nearly erased a three-goal third period deficit, but came up just short against the Peoria Rivermen (34-16-3) in a 3-2 loss at the Landers Center Friday night.

After a scoreless first period the Rivermen built a 3-0 lead in the second period. Dan Bremner started the scoring at 4:06 of the second when Matt Summers fed a pass to him down the left wing. Bremner got behind the defense and cut across the goal mouth to beat Adam Courchaine for a 1-0 lead. Later in the second Peoria went to work on the power play to go up 2-0. Summers ended up with the puck at the right circle, dragged the puck past a defender, then spun in the slot and roofed a shot over Courchaine.

The Rivermen would strike late in the third to make it a 3-0 game. After holding the puck in the offensive zone Matt Whitehead got the puck at the blue line. He tried to send a pass to Reid Campbell at the left point, but Garrett Vermeersch stepped in to intercept the pass and create a breakaway for himself. He faked a shot then went to the backhand to score with 11.9 seconds left in the second period.

The RiverKings tried to mount a comeback against a Rivermen team with a perfect 26-0-0 record when leading after two periods, and they very nearly did. Leo Thomas started the would-be comeback just 2:38 into the third when he buried a pass from Linden Bahm for a 5-on-3 power-play goal, making it 3-1. Just moments later, on the ensuing power play Devin Mantha rang a shot off the crossbar and Mike Hayward was robbed by a Kyle Rank glove save. Then at 9:33 the RiverKings closed the gap to one when Paul Ciarelli finished a scramble near the crease by sliding the puck under Rank's pads to make it 3-2. The Rivermen settled down just enough the rest of the way to hang on for a 3-2 win despite the RiverKings outshooting Peoria, 16-4, in the third period.

The RiverKings are back home for two more games this weekend starting Saturday, Mar. 21 vs. the Peoria Rivermem. It is College Night with the game starting at 6:05 p.m. Fans with a college ID will get $2 off select tickets. Sunday, the RiverKings face the Huntsville Havoc on Country Night presented by 95.3 The Rebel and fans wearing cowboy hats save $2 on select tickets at the Box OfficeSingle-game tickets can be purchased at riverkings.com/ticketmaster and groups of 15 or more get a discount, with group tickets starting at $8 per ticket, by calling the front office at 662-342-1755. Group packages for playoff games start at $5. For that and other playoff packages, call the RiverKings front office at 662-342-1755.

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