Fight Night in Pelham Lifts Macon to 4-2 Win
March 13, 2021 - SPHL (SPHL)
Macon Mayhem News Release
PELHAM, AL - It'd been over a month since the last true weekend road series for the Macon Mayhem. Traveling to Pelham this weekend, and fresh off a 4-3 win on Friday Night, the Mayhem looked to complete the road sweep of the host Birmingham Bulls. Without Brian Bowen, serving a suspension from the night before, the Mayhem would look to find their scoring touch elsewhere. Early on, that would prove not to be a problem for the visitors from Georgia.
Jake Theut would get the start in net again for the Mayhem, off a 20-save win last night against the Bulls. While Theut would be busy in an 11-save First Period, it would be the offense that would set the tone. With a too-many-men penalty just over four minutes into the period, the Mayhem Power Play would get a chance to work early; the man-up unit would also work early, as Captain Stephen Pierog would score eight seconds into the advantage for his fifth of the year. Following this goal, Kasey Kulcyzcki would receive a 10-minute misconduct for Verbal Abuse of an Official. Less than five minutes later, February's League Player of the Month Mason Baptista would net his 10th of the season to put the Mayhem up 2-0 with over 11 minutes to go in the period. Macon would follow-up with a pair of penalties to put their Penalty Kill to the test on a 5-on-3, that they would successfully kill. With exactly five minutes to go in the first, Jacob Smith's fourth goal would put Birmingham on the board and make it a 2-1 Mayhem lead. Macon would take a 2-1 lead into the intermission, trailing in shots 12-9.
A busy period for the Officials would be found in period two, with goals and penalties to be accounted for. With Matt Stief committing a Trip early on, Macon's Penalty Kill would have yet another chance to go to work. What would result would be a pair of shorthanded goals from Mason Baptista again, and new-guy defenseman Joe Masonius for his first Mayhem goal. Suddenly, Macon found themselves ahead 4-1 just over 2:30 into the middle frame. The final 17:30 would see the Bulls discipline falter by way of an Unsportsmanlike Conduct, Inciting an Opponent, Roughing, and Goalie Interference; the Mayhem on the opposite end would be guilty for a hooking. In the midst of all this, Captain Pierog and the previously-misconducted Kulcyzcki. Macon would dominate the frame with so much time on the man-advantage, taking a 17-6 shot advantage out of the period for a 4-1 lead into intermission.
In the third period, Macon would look to kill time with their three-goal lead in hand. With nothing to report through the first six minutes, an Illegal Check to the Head from Logan Nelson would spark a retaliation fight from Oscar Arfelt. With the two combatants in the box, Macon would head to the man-advantage. Just past the halfway mark of the final frame, Paul Meyer would head to the box for a trip; 1:04 later, Cameron Strong would strike for his second goal of the season to cut the Mayhem lead in half on the Power Play. Late in the third period, Masonius and Mackenzie Dwyer would drop the gloves for the third fight of the night, and head to the box with matching penalties. None of the extracurriculars would come to matter, however, as the score would go final with a 4-2 Mayhem win, and a road sweep of the last-place Bulls.
With the win, the Mayhem have started a new streak at back-to-back wins, and achieved their first road sweep in the month of March. Macon returns home tonight in preparation for their first three-game home weekend of the season starting on Friday and going through Sunday. Initially scheduled as a two-game set, a Saturday game was added to account for the previously postponed games in January.
SPHL Stories from March 13, 2021
- Fight Night in Pelham Lifts Macon to 4-2 Win - Macon Mayhem
- Former Ice Bear Joins Havoc - Huntsville Havoc
- SPHL Announces Suspension - SPHL
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
