Berlin Withstands Late Danbury Comeback, Win In Shootout 7-6

February 4, 2016 - Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL)
Berlin River Drivers News Release


Tonight, only one matchup was on the board for the FHL, and it was the Berlin River Drivers, desperate to hold onto their 4th place position, beginning their 3 game weekend against the Danbury Titans, who also have 3 games this weekend. Their were plenty of goals, and not too much physicality, it was definitely not a good night for goalies either, and Berlin managed to take a win out of the Danbury Arena tonight.

In the 1st period it took all of 33 seconds for Berlin to strike first, on a goal from Steven Gallo. The Titans rebounded strong, scoring twice in less than a minute to take a 2-1 lead off goals from Brett Liscomb and Kory Helowka. The River Drivers would score another first minute goal in the 2nd to tie the game, once again from Steve Gallo, 15 seconds in. The Titans responded yet again as Phil Bronner made it 3-2 at the 7 minute mark. Special teams would make a huge impact later on, as Berlin tied the game on a power play goal from Pavel Kubena, followed by a successful penalty kill and a shorthanded goal to boot, from Tyler Prendergast to give Berlin the lead, 4-3. Minutes later, however, Phil Bronner would score his 2nd goal to tie things up before going to 2nd intermission. At the 6:45 mark of the 3rd it would be Brantley Sherwood scoring from a feed from behind the net to make it 5-4, at this point which Matt Cooper was yanked and Mike Pearless entered in relief. The River Drivers would take a 2 goal lead with under 8 minutes remaining as a Scott Norman shot beat Pearless clean. Cue the comeback. The Titans were getting offensive opportunity after opportunity, and finally, it paid off. With 2:40 remaining a Kory Helowka one timer beat Ryan Donovan to make it 6-5. After Berlin missed capitalizing on a couple close opportunities in front of Mike Pearless, Tyler Gjurich would score the game tying goal with only 39 seconds remaining to force overtime. There would be no goals scored in OT and therefore a shootout took place. The first shootout goal was scored by Steven Gallo, and the Titans could not find the back of the net on any attempt as Nick Wright would finish the game with a goal in Round 4, winning the shootout 2-0, and the game, 7-6.

For Danbury, Phil Bronner and Kory Helowka each had 2 goals and an assist, Brett Liscomb had a goal and 2 assists, and Tyler Gjurich had a goal and assist. Matt Cooper stopped 28 of 33 and Mike Pearless stopped 3 of 4, plus 2 of 4 shootout attempts, for the OT loss. For Berlin, Steven Gallo had 2 goals plus the shootout winning goal for an unofficial hat trick, Brantley Sherwood had a goal and 2 assists, Pavel Kubena had a goal and assist, Tyler Prendergast and Scott Norman had a goal each and Jiri Pestuka had 2 assists. Nick Wright had a goal in the shootout. Ryan Donovan stopped 36 of 42 shots plus 4 of 4 shootout attempts for the OT win.

The Titans travel to Berlin for a rematch at Notre Dame Arena tomorrow night before returning home on Saturday to host Port Huron. The River Drivers will remain home for Saturday to host the Brewster Bulldogs. Attendance for this Thursday night game was 309.



Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2016


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