FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps
FPHL Federal Prospects Hockey League

FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps

Published on November 7, 2025 under Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) News Release


INDIANA SENTINELS at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

Black Bears Back in the Win Column

by Brooks Hill

Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Indiana Sentinels 4-1 on Friday night. Binghamton outshot their opponents 54-14 in the inaugural matchup of the two franchises.

The Black Bears continued their hot streak at home in the early stages of the season. Ivan Bondarenko scored the opening goal late in the period to but the Black Bears up 1-0. It was the only goal in 19 shot period for Binghamton, as they carried a 1-0 advantage into the locker room.

Binghamton was able to find the insurance goal in the second. On their third power play of the night, CJ Stubbs was able to score his third of the season. Binghamton continued to control the pace of play, but unable to crack the dam opening in the goal column. After forty, Binghamton was up 2-0 and outshooting Indiana 35-12.

Indiana made it a one-goal game in the third. Ethan Esposito scored the only Sentinel goal of the night at 8:26 of the frame. However, Emerson Emery answered right back, tallying his second of the season, reclaiming a two-goal lead for the Black Bears. The Sentinels pulled the goalie with 90 seconds remaining and on a 5-on-3, were unable to cash-in. Mac Jansen scored in the empty net, giving the Black Bears a 4-1 win on home ice.

PORT HURON PROWLERS at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

Bobcats Stun Prowlers Late, Escape With 4-3 Win

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - Before a crowd of better than 1,500 fans at Hitachi Energy Arena on Hometown Heroes Night, the Blue Ridge Bobcats broke a 3-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Port Huron Prowlers thanks to stalwart netminding from Anthony Shrum and late-game shorthanded heroics from Filip Hlavac.

Port Huron's first ever visit to Hitachi Energy Arena treated the crowd to a thrilling, physical back-and-forth affair. Both teams took the first half of the first period to feel each other out in just the 5th all-time meeting between the franchises. Just under halfway through the opening frame at the 9:45 mark, Alexei Kulikov forced a turnover on the near side half wall and sauced a beautiful tape-to-tape pass to Mike Mercurio, who walked into a slap shot and blasted it past Reid Cooper to put Blue Ridge in front 1-0. Lukas Lacny's first of two on the night tied the game on the power play less than 4 minutes later.

Kyle Heitzner wasted no time with the Bobcats' response, coming right out of a media timeout and snapping a rebound on a shot from Denis Radchenko past Cooper to make it a 2-1 game just 2:19 after Lacny's goal.

Both sides played a tight-checking, physical and ultimately scoreless second period. Just over six minutes into the final frame, Bobby Price sniped home a shot past Shrum out of a wild net-mouth scramble to tie the game at 2. 4:20 later, Heitzner potted his second of the night on a tic-tac-toe power play goal to briefly put the Bobcats ahead 3-2. Lacny almost immediately responded, tying the game again just 34 seconds later.

While killing off a 1:40-long 5-on-3 power play for Port Huron, Anthony Shrum stood on his head to keep the game tied at 3. Hlavac exited the box with his club still shorthanded, outmuscled and outhustled a Prowler for the loose puck at center and powered home his first career game winning goal with 49.4 left in regulation to cap the 4-3 win.

Hlavac earned third star for the GWG, while Heitzner's pair of tallies earned him second star. Shrum's masterful performance in net earned him first star on the night, swatting aside a grand total of 50 of Port Huron's 53 shots on the night.

Both teams meet again tomorrow night for Military Appreciation night. Tickets are available at the Hitachi Energy Arena box office, by phone at 276-335-2100, and online at blueridgebobcats.com/tickets.

Prowlers Stunned by Late Shorthanded Goal

by Will Wiegelman

Wytheville, VA - For the second time this season, the Port Huron Prowlers got a five-on-three power play with under four minutes to go in a tie game. For the second time this season, that game didn't go into overtime. Unfortunately for the Prowlers, they didn't get the win. Filip Hlavac scored the game winner shorthanded in a 4-3 Bobcats win, the first shorthanded goal given up by Port Huron this season.

Blue Ridge never trailed and they got the scoring started in the first with a rip from Michael Mercurio walking down the middle of the ice. Lukas Lacny tied the score with his first of the season a few minutes later, finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing play.

"Finally," Lacny said after the game. "But it would feel better if we won."

Late in the frame, Kyle Heitzner put the Bobcats ahead as he potted the rebound off a shot he deflected.

"It's pretty cliche but, we can't start 20 minutes and feel out the game," said Prowlers associate head coach Chris Paulin. "Wings fell asleep, I thought their defensemen were better than our defensemen tonight, which I'm shocked about. I'm interested to see how our d-core, and the leaders on our d-core, respond because they have a lot more."

After a scoreless second, the goals picked up in the third. Bobby Price, in his season debut, took advantage of some chaos in front to knot the score at two. Heitzner got his second from the low slot to put Blue Ridge back in front but Lacny responded with his second 34 seconds later.

Port Huron got opportunities on the five-on-three late but as the first penalty expired, Hlavac escaped from the sin bin, grabbed the cleared puck and beat Reid Cooper for the game winner.

"We had good looks," Paulin said. "We ran what we were trying to run and their goalie and defense out-battled us. They were able to clear the puck and the guy coming out of the box got a jump."

Matt Graham dished out a pair of assists for the Prowlers while Cooper made 29 saves in net.

Mercurio added an assist to his tally and Anthony Shrum made 50 saves to grab the win.

The teams rematch on November 8 at 7:30 P.M. in Wytheville, Virginia. The game will be available live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

DANBURY HAT TRICKS at WATERTOWN WOLVES

Wolves Edge Hat Tricks in OT

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - Week number two of a three week stretch where the Wolves and Hat Tricks square off against each other, moved to the Watertown Municipal Arena for the first game of a home and home series.

The Hat Tricks took two games from the Wolves last week in Danbury, part of a four game win streak for the Hat Tricks, and pushed the Wolves deeper into the early season hole, which has extended to five straight losses.

At 8:13 of the first period, Watertown's Ian McDonald redirected a shot from Steven Klinck and Brad Reitter, and snuck the puck behind the Hat Tricks starter Christian Wong-Ramos to make it 1-0.

With just 17 seconds left in the first, Jake Raleigh was able to get behind the Wolves defense and receive a pretty pass from Austan Bellefeuille and make a nice move to get Wolves starter Matt Lenz out of position, and knot the game at 1-1.

Shots on goal in the first favored the Hat Tricks 15-10.

At the 2:15 mark of the second, Egor Fillipov muscled his way to the front of the goal, and stuffed the puck through the five hole, and put the Wolves up 2-1.

Noah Robinson would pull the Hat Tricks back even again at the 15:13 mark with a power play goal, making the score 2-2 after 40 minutes.

Shots on goal again belonged to the Hat Tricks, this time 11-9 in the second 20 minutes.

5:30 into the third, the Hat Tricks would get their first lead of the night on a Alexander Legkov goal, assisted by Kadyn Fennell, making it 3-2.

At 9:36 the Wolves knotted the game once again on a Yefim Mishkin goal assisted by Egor Fillipov, and Darion Benchich.

The score remained tied at the end of regulation sending it to overtime.

3:04 into the extra frame, Steven Klinck would lift the Wolves to victory with the overtime winner, assisted by Boston Bird and Darion Benchich

The Wolves and Hat Tricks will battle again tomorrow night, back in Danbury, CT with a start time of 7:30pm.

Hat Tricks Fall to Wolves in Overtime, Snapping Four Game Win Streak

by Meghan Baker & Lexi Burkey-Yau

Watertown, NY - The Hat Tricks started their weekend off with a hard-fought battle against the Watertown Wolves during their third meeting of the season, falling short in a 4-3 overtime loss.

Ian McDonald opened up the scoring for the Wolves off a shot from forward Steven Klinck, tipped in front at 8:13. Danbury responded late in the period when Jake Raleigh caught a breakaway assisted by Austan Bellefeuille, tying it up at 19:44.

The Wolves, determined to get back on top, scored early in the middle frame when Egor Filippov netted one fresh out of the penalty box, unassisted, just over two minutes in.

Watertown's Quinn Chevers received a slashing call at 14:02, sending the Hat Tricks to their seventh power play of the night. Noah Robinson brought the Hat Tricks' right back up with a one-timer on a Danbury power play, for his second of the season at 15:13.

Falling behind after 40 minutes of play, Danbury secured their first lead of the game when Alexander Legkov netted one from the slot on a breakaway past goaltender Matt Lenz off a pass from newcomer Kadyn Fennell just five minutes into the third.

With just over ten minutes to go in regulation, Watertown's Yefim Mishkin buried his first of the season, sliding one in from forward Egor Filippov, tying it up for the third time. Ending regulation with three a piece, Klinck earned the game-winning goal in overtime to snap the Wolves' five-game losing streak.

Netminder Cristian Wong-Ramos made an impressive total of 30 saves during his fourth start of the season. Hat Tricks outshot the Wolves 34-30, yet fell short.

Up next, the Hat Tricks return home for Military Appreciation Night on home ice Saturday, November 8th, for their fourth match against the Wolves this season. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at TWIN CITY THUNDERBIRDS

Thunderbirds Fall to River Dragons 4-3

by Kendall Grayson

Winston-Salem, NC - The Twin City Thunderbirds, proud members of the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL), fell to the Columbus River Dragons by a final score of 4-3 Friday night at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena. Roman Kraemer (2), and Liam Blomqvist scored for the Thunderbirds in the loss. Twin City returns to action Saturday night in another battle against the Columbus River Dragons. Puck drop for the matchup is scheduled for 6:05pm ET.

Columbus netted two powerplay goals during the opening five minutes of Friday night's game. The first man-advantage goal was netted by Cody Wickline at 2:53 of the 1st period. Ryan Hunter and Tyler Barrow each recorded an assist on the scoring play. Josh Colten netted a powerplay goal at 4:45 of the 1st period to increase the River Dragons' advantage to two. The goal was assisted by Tyler Barrow and Ryan Hunter. Matt Stoia scored an even-strength goal with just over seven minutes remaining in Friday's opening period to give Columbus a 3-0 lead in the battle. Columbus outshot Twin City 12-9 during the 1st period, and the River Dragons carried a three-goal advantage into the 2nd period.

Twin City outscored Columbus 2-0 in the 2nd period, and outshot the River Dragons by a 13-7 margin. The Thunderbirds' first goal of the night was netted by Roman Kraemer at 7:31 of the middle period. Kraemer's goal was assisted by Zach White and Don Carter Jr. Liam Blomqvist scored his first career FPHL goal minutes later to bring the score to 3-2. Blomqvist's scoring play in his debut game with the organization was assisted by Jan Salak and Cade Hanley. After netting back-to-back goals in the 2nd period, Twin City entered Friday's final period in a one-goal deficit.

Alex Storjohann netted Columbus' third powerplay goal of the contest with just under ten minutes left to play in Friday's 3rd period. The goal increased the River Dragons' lead to 4-2, and was assisted by Cody Wickline and Tyler Barrow. Roman Kraemer netted his second goal of the night, and third goal of the season, with less than a minute to play to bring Twin City back within one goal of Columbus' lead. The goal was scored six-on-five, at 19:09 of Friday's 3rd period. Liam Blomqvist and Gus Ford each recorded an assist on the scoring play. The Thunderbirds lifted goaltender Dysen Skinner for an extra attacker during the final minutes of the contest, but were unable to find the game-tying goal. Twin City Citty outshot Columbus 19-8 in the 3rd period, and 41-27 overall during the matchup. The Thunderbirds dropped the decision by a final score of 4-3, and fell to 1-6-0 on the 2025-2026 regular season.

Dysen Skinner made 23 saves during the game, and dropped the decision in goal for Twin City. Tyler Roy collected the win in net for the River Dragons after making 38 saves on 41 shots.

Twin City will host Columbus again tomorrow night for Veterans Night at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena.

COLUMBUS RIDES THREE POWER-PLAY GOALS TO VICTORY

by Liam Gotimer

Winston-Salem, NC - The Columbus River Dragons defeated the Twin City Thunderbirds by a final score of 4-3 on Friday night, at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Tyler Roy was in net for the River Dragons, while Dysen Skinner was in goal for the Thunderbirds.

In the opening frame, Columbus scored two power-play goals in short order, with Cody Wickline, and then Josh Colten finding the back of the net. Both goals were assisted by Tyler Barrow and Ryan Hunter.

At 13:59, after a terrific zone entry and puck retrieval, Matt Stoia flung a shot over Skinner's glove hand, putting the River Dragons ahead by three. Brodie Thornton and Alex Storjohann assisted on the tally.

In the second period, Twin City scored twice, with Roman Kraemer and Liam Blomqvist lighting the lamp for the home team.

In the final frame, the River Dragons got a much needed insurance marker, with Alex Storjohann netting the team's third power-play goal of the night.

Late in the game, Roman Kraemer scored again, bringing his team a goal closer. With the score 4-3 and under a minute to go, Columbus hung on for the regulation victory.

Tyler Roy earned the win for the River Dragons, making 38 saves on 41 shots, while Dysen Skinner took the loss for Twin City, denying 23 of 27.

The River Dragons will be back in action next tomorrow night at the Winston Salem Fairgrounds, when the club battles the Twin City Thunderbirds at 7:35 p.m. Coverage begins at 7:05 p.m. EST on YouTube, Facebook, and Sporfie.

BILOXI BREAKERS at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO

Zydeco Run Into a Wall Named Rosenzweig

by Bryan Flores

Baton Rouge, LA - The Baton Rouge Zydeco came up short on Military Night at the Raising Cane's River Center, falling 5-0 to the Biloxi Breakers in front of 3,373 fans on Friday evening.

The night began with special pre-game tributes honoring members of the U.S. Armed Forces, but once the puck dropped, the Breakers wasted no time seizing momentum. Brandon Lucchesi opened the scoring just 45 seconds into the game, followed by goals from Yaroslav Yevdokimov and Lucas Piekarczyk to give Biloxi a 3-0 advantage after the first period.

Khaden Henry extended the lead midway through the second frame, and Declan Conway capped the scoring early in the third. Despite the scoreline, Baton Rouge poured on 45 shots - but Biloxi goaltender Josh Rosenzweig was perfect between the pipes, stopping every puck sent his way to earn the shutout and first-star honors.

Yevdokimov (1G, 2A) and Henry (1G, 2A) rounded out the three-star selections for Biloxi. Emotions ran high in the second period as Brice French dropped the gloves with A.J. Schlepp in a spirited tilt, one of several physical exchanges throughout the night.

With the loss, Baton Rouge will look to bounce back quickly as the home-and-home series shifts to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on Saturday night. Puck drop against the Breakers is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Rosenzweig Blanks Zydeco

by Devin Dobek

Baton Rouge, LA - The proximate rivalry begins. Matchup 1/12 between the Breakers and the Zydeco, and for Breaker Nation, it certainly didn't disappoint. Led by Josh Rosenzweig's 45 saves and new Captain Yaro Yevdokimov, the Breakers earned a statement victory on the road in Baton Rouge this past Friday night 5-0.

In a matchup of 1-4 teams, it's always anybody's contest. In the early stages of the season these matchups that seem so nominal can end up having crazy playoff implications as we saw last season. Period 1 had a fast start in the first of twelve meetings between the Breakers and the Zydeco. It took just 45 seconds for Brandon Lucchesi to light the lamp with a shot through traffic that surprised Stephens to make it 1-0. It appeared as though Stephens had never seen it at all, barely flinching as the puck whizzed by. The middle chunk of period 1 was controlled mostly by the Zydeco, but Breakers goaltender Josh Rosenzweig made some big time stops to keep the lead intact. At 14:31, a Tim Delaney stretch pass found new Breakers Captain Yaro Yevdokimov in stride on a breakaway to double the margin with a smooth finish. But the Breakers wouldn't be done there... At 17:28, Lucas Piekarczyk finished an impressive passing play from his linemates Yevdokimov and Henry to put the Breakers up 3-0, their largest lead of the season. The Breakers were outshot 14-5 in the first period, but quality proved to trump quantity.

Trailing by 3, the Zydeco needed to find a way to shift the momentum back in their direction. At 2:01, Brice French found the courage to answer the bell against the Breakers new enforcer AJ Schlepp. Schlepp, towering over French by 6 inches, landed a majority of the shots before flipping French over WWE style. Everything seemed to be coming up in Biloxi's favor this time around. 5 minutes after the scrap, Khaden Henry buried a beautiful backhander completing a highlight reel deke to extend the Breakers margin to 4. The back half of the frame featured the two squads trading petty penalties and man-up opportunities, with no more tallies. Josh Rosenzweig was exceptional between the pipes, stopping all 30 shots he faced through 40 minutes of play. On the other end, Stephens was having a night to forget, with just 9 saves on 13 shots. As we all know, crazier things have happened than a 4-goal comeback in the Fed, and we still had 20 minutes to play. The goal for Charlie Pens' group, finish strong and carry the momentum to home ice.

The 3rd period was very similar to the 2nd. The only goal scored in the frame belonged to Declan Conway, assisted by Richie Colarusso. The assist marks Colarusso's first professional point, even sweeter playing against his former team. The rest of the way was a hodge podge of pushing, shoving and barking. Penalties continued to add up as the temperature between the two proximate rivals rose. Similar to the previous frames, the Zydeco dominated in shots on goal tonight. Unfortunately for them, Josh Rosenzweig would post a shutout. When all was said and done, Rosenzweig stopped a season high 45 shots he faced, earning his 2nd win of the season and first shutout. After the horn sounded, there were some more pleasantries exchanged at center ice, with the officials having to get involved and separate the two squads. It was the perfect end to an authoritative victory for the Breakers, as it set the stage for a physical game tomorrow night.

The two teams will battle tomorrow night once again but this time in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum at 7:00CST.

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Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from November 7, 2025


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