SPHL Fayetteville Marksmen

FireAntz Suffer Painful Weekend

January 11, 2005 - SPHL (SPHL)
Fayetteville Marksmen News Release


[Fayetteville, N.C.] –The Fayetteville FireAntz of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) split a pair over the weekend. On Friday, at home, the FireAntz lost a heartbreaker to Huntsville 4-3. Saturday, in Winston-Salem, they won 6-1 but lost defenseman Andrew Dickson for 6-8 weeks with a broken ankle.

Friday January 7 (vs. Huntsville): In what would turn out to be another big night for the FireAntz newcomers, the FireAntz fell just a little short.

In a tight first period Huntsville's James Patterson would net the only goal in the period on a rebound of a shot by Shawn Breaker at the 14:36 mark. The FireAntz outshot the Havoc in the period 11-10.

In the second period the FireAntz tied the score at 1 off the stick of newcomer George Nistas (his 2nd as a FireAnt and 10th of the season.) After Kory Baker's shot was blocked aside by goaltender Adam MacLean, Nistas pounced on the rebound and banged it home for the FireAntz at 4:23. Huntsville would answer back, however, on an unassisted goal by Jeff Dams at 18:39 to give the Havoc a 2-1 lead going in to the 3rd period.

Two quick goals for Huntsville by Luke Phillips and Patterson (2nd) gave the Havoc a 4-1 lead at the 4:27 mark of the third period. The FireAntz, spurred on by a raucous crowd of 2,630 at the Crown Coliseum fought their way back into the game with a goal by Baker (his 1st as a FireAnt and 5th of the season) on a rebound off the stick of newcomer Chad Peck at 13:25. Then at 18:09 Nistas scored on a nifty backhand that he roofed over the glove of MacLean to draw the FireAntz to within one at 4-3. That is as close as the FireAntz would get despite firing several shots at MacLean in the closing seconds.

The FireAntz outshot Huntsville 46-38.

FireAntz 11-14 on the season, (2-1 vs. Huntsville.)

Saturday January 8th (at Winston-Salem): The FireAntz looked to rebound from a close loss the night before and they did just that by defeating the Polar Twins 6-1 in what would turn out to be a bittersweet victory. Defenseman Andrew Dickson suffered a broken ankle and will be out 6-8 weeks.

In the first period Steve Roberts got the FireAntz on the board with a power play goal (his 17th goal of the season) at 9:27. That would be the only goal of the period.

In the second period the FireAntz would light the lamp four times. Roberts (2nd of the game and 18th of the season), Jeff Coulter, Tyler Perry and Nick Kormanyos all tallied in the period.

In the third period goaltender Glen Ridler lost his shutout on a goal by Shaun Aebig on the power play at the halfway mark to bring the score to 5-1. Captain Mike Fournier (2nd of the season) capped the scoring on the power play at 12:51.

The FireAntz outshot Winston-Salem 47-22.

FireAntz 12-14 on the season, (4-1 vs. Winston-Salem.)

3 Stars of the Weekend:

George Nistas: 2G, 1A, +3

Steve Roberts: 2G

Glen Ridler: saved 21 of 22 shots, 1 win (1st of the season, 1-0)

Recent Transactions:

1/7 F Paul Vincent waived

1/7 F Chad Peck signed

Noteworthy:

Steve Roberts has 8 power play goals (T-2nd in the SPHL.)

The FireAntz have won 2 consecutive on the road and are now 5-6 for the season.

The FireAntz are in 6th place in the SPHL (12-14, 24 points) and just 8 points behind 2nd place Macon.

The FireAntz next home game is Saturday, January 15th as the FireAntz play host to the Jacksonville Barracudas on ‘Special Operation: Sellout, Military Appreciation Night. Last year this game attracted a crowd of 8,500 people to the Crown Coliseum and this year even more people are expected. Special group rates are available from the FireAntz with tickets as low as $5 a piece. Contact the FireAntz office at (910) 321-0123 for more information.

Check out the Fayetteville Marksmen Statistics



SPHL Stories from January 11, 2005


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