SPHL Fayetteville Marksmen

Antz on Fire

January 17, 2005 - SPHL (SPHL)
Fayetteville Marksmen News Release


[Fayetteville, N.C.] –The Fayetteville FireAntz of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) swept three games in three nights this weekend and brought their season-high winning streak to four games. On Thursday the FireAntz went in to Knoxville and took one from the 1st place Ice Bears but in the process lost defenseman Rob Meanchoff for 3-4 weeks with a wrist injury. Friday the club was in Macon and defeated the Trax in overtime. Saturday the FireAntz came home and, in front of a crowd of 6,985, defeated the Jacksonville Barracudas.

Thursday January 13 (at Knoxville): The FireAntz traveled to Knoxville to battle the 1st place Ice Bears, who they had yet to defeat in the previous two contests.

Knoxville got off to good start as Rob Miller scored just 6:18 into the game. That would be the only goal of the period as both netminders, Glen Ridler for the FireAntz and Terry Dunbar of the Ice Bears, got off to solid starts. Ridler saved 12 of the 13 shots he faced and Dunbar turned aside all 15 he saw in the first period.

In the second period Knoxville added to their lead as Kevin Swider netted his league-leading 23rd at 3:25. The FireAntz would bounce back however. Jake Gibson (3rd of the season) would get a power play goal at 7:58 with the assist to Steve Roberts. Caleb Moffat would net his first of two on the evening at 18:26 to knot it up at 2 going into the 3rd period.

Going into the 3rd period tied was not a good sign for the FireAntz. They had been 0-13 on the season when tied or trailing after 2 periods. But this game would be different. The FireAntz would set the tone for the remainder of the weekend with 3rd period goals by Sean Edwards (4th), Moffat (2nd of the game and 5th of the season), and Roberts (19th.) The FireAntz defeated the Ice Bears 5-2.

Defenseman Rob Meanchoff would injur his wrist in the game and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks for the FireAntz.

The FireAntz outshot Knoxville 44-38.

FireAntz 13-14 on the season, (1-2 vs. Knoxville.)

Friday January 14th (at Macon): The two teams had split their previous 4 games and this meeting would take place in Macon.

For the second night in a row the FireAntz gave up the only goal of the 1st period on a shorthanded tally by David Deeves at 6:13.

The FireAntz would net the first two goals of the 2nd period off the sticks of Josh Welter (4th of the season) and Chad Peck (1st of the season) to take a 2-1 lead just 35 seconds apart. Macon, however, would answer back with two goals of their own by Lou Dimasi and Craig Miller (his 5th in as many games against the FireAntz.) to take a 3-2 lead going into the final frame.

Like the night before the FireAntz would break a trend. The FireAntz had been 0-11 in games they trailed after two periods. Steve Roberts would tie the game at 3 at the 10:59 mark with his first of two on the evening. Macon's Steve Zoryk would give the Trax the lead back at 15:16. Roberts then tied it up at 4 at the 17:12 mark, sending the game to overtime.

The FireAntz would complete the comeback just 1:01 into overtime on Tyler Perry's 4th as a FireAnt and 11th of the year on an assist by Chad Peck.

The FireAntz outshot Macon 45-29.

FireAntz 14-14 on the season, (3-2 vs. Macon.)

Saturday January 15th (vs. Jacksonville): The FireAntz would play host to the Jacksonville Barracudas on ‘Special Operation: Sellout' night at the Crown Coliseum in front of 6,985 fans.

The FireAntz would not disappoint the large crowd as Kory Baker deked goaltender Randy Hevey and backhanded it home just 1:20 into the 1st period. Josh Welter made a perfect tape to tape pass on the play to set Baker up on the play. The FireAntz closed out the period on a goal by Nick Kormanyos (4th) with assists from Baker and Welter at 19:44.

With a 2-0 lead in the second period, Sean Edwards picked up his own rebound and scored on a wraparound to give the FireAntz a 3-0 lead at the 2:22 mark of the 2nd period. The FireAntz kept the pressure on with Tyler Perry (5th as a FireAnt, 11th of the season) scoring off a rebound of a Steve Roberts shot at 7:38 to put the FireAntz up 4-0. Perry returned the favor at 11:16 as Roberts (22nd) tallied the 5th FireAnt goal. Glen Ridler lost his shutout at 17:07 on a goal by Jim Murphy. The FireAntz led 5-1 going into the 3rd.

Greg Lecolst would net the only goal of the 3rd period at 4:06 to bring the score to 5-2. Jacksonville fired 12 shots at Ridler in the frame but he remained solid turning away 11 of them.

The FireAntz outshot Jacksonville 33-31.

FireAntz 15-14 on the season, (3-2 vs. Jacksonville.)

3 Stars of the Weekend:

Tyler Perry: 2G, 4A, 1 GWG

Steve Roberts: 4G, 2A

Sean Edwards: 2G, 2A, 2 GWG, +3

Recent Notes:

1/7 D Andrew Dickson injured; out 6-8 weeks

1/13 D Rob Meanchoff injured; out 3-4 weeks

1/15 D Josh Young signed

Noteworthy:

The FireAntz are 7-3 in their last 10 games and have won 4 in a row.

The FireAntz are 1st in the SPHL in GA (79) and GAA (2.72.)

Glen Ridler is now 3-0 with a 1.67 GAA and a .946 SV%.

The FireAntz next home games are next Saturday and Sunday at the Crown Coliseum. On Saturday January 22nd the FireAntz play host to the Jacksonville Barracudas. On Sunday January 23rd the FireAntz host the Knoxville Ice Bears in a 4 pm start. There are great seats available for both games. Call the FireAntz office at (910) 321-0123 for more information.

Check out the Fayetteville Marksmen Statistics



SPHL Stories from January 17, 2005


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