Bloomington Steals Surge Spark, Wins 5-1
Published on December 13, 2013 under SPHL (SPHL)
Mississippi Surge News Release
Bloomington, IL - Greg Pankewicz wins in his first game as head coach after inheriting the worst team in the SPHL earlier in the week. Coming into tonight's game as a 4 win, 11 loss club, Bloomington didn't play like a last placed team, scoring 4 unanswered goals before the Surge finally responded with a goal in the third period. Surge netminder Dan Clarke was pulled in the third period in favor of rookie goal tender Mathieu Dugas, after giving up 3 goals on 14 shots.
Bloomington Right Wing, Burke Gallimore, scored his first goal of the season midway through the opening period, and would go on to score his second goal in the final period. The matchup remained relatively close after one period with a 9 to 7 shot comparison slightly favoring the Thunder.
It only 32 seconds into the second period for the story to drastically change as Dennis Sicard found the back of the net, picking up an assist from Gallimore. Tyler Noseworthy scored an unassisted goal, followed by Travis Granbois who slapped the fourth goal in net during a power play less than three minutes later. The Thunder's most devastating blow was delivered in the form of a three goal package in the second period. "We need to be prepared to play 60 minutes of hockey, from the start to the end." Surge fan favorite Kyle Kudroch said shortly after the game.
Despite being outshot by Bloomington, Mississippi had several promising shots deflected from net by Thunder goaltender BJ OBrien. Surge Defenseman Jarkko Leppanen was finally able to slip one past Obrien just over three minutes into the third period. Less than 60 seconds later, the always physical Chapen LeBlond dropped his gloves to tussle with the irksome Right Winger in Sicard. Elsewhere on the ice, Tommy Lange made his 2013 - 2014 season debut accounting for the most shots on goal by the road team, but his presence was overshadowed by the resurgence of a rejuvenated Thunder unit.
After the game, Surge Head Coach Jeff Bes shared his thoughts on the matchup, "We have played much better games previous to this game," the always calm and collected Bes said. "We need to focus on execution and simplifying our game. When we do that, we are successful."
Head Coach Jeff Bes and the Electric bunch will face-off against the Thunder tomorrow and Sunday night, before returning home on monday.
SPHL Stories from December 13, 2013
- RiverKings Fall in Shootout against Huntsville - Mississippi RiverKings
- Trask OT Goal Lifts IceGators over Pensacola - Louisiana IceGators
- Bloomington Steals Surge Spark, Wins 5-1 - Mississippi Surge
- Pensacola Falls to Louisiana 4-3 in OT - Pensacola Ice Flyers
- Thunder Beat Surge in Pankewicz's Debut - Bloomington Thunder
- Sobotka Is First RiverKings' Call-Up - Mississippi RiverKings
- Rivermen Waive Doerrsam - Peoria Rivermen
- Second Period Offense Leads RiverKings in Win - Mississippi RiverKings
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