FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps
FPHL Federal Prospects Hockey League

FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps

Published on November 8, 2025 under Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) News Release


INDIANA SENTINELS at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

Black Bears Best Sentinels on Military Appreciation Night

by Cole Parenti

Binghamton, NY - The Black Bears and Sentinels faced off for the second time in as many days inside the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena. Binghamton entered the game looking to complete the weekend sweep against their inter-division rivals.

Zachary Desmaris redirected a shot from the blue line to score his first goal as a Black Bear, giving the home team a 1-0 lead. The next tally came from C.J. Stubbs, who collected a pass in his skates and buried it to make it 2-0 Binghamton. That score held as the teams headed to the first intermission.

The second period saw each side strike once. Bohdan Zinchenko cut through the Binghamton defense on a delayed penalty and halved the deficit. The Black Bears quickly responded when Austin D'Orazio scored his first goal with the team, restoring the two-goal cushion.

In the third period, the Black Bears found their scoring touch, netting three goals. Gavin Yates opened the frame by banging home a rebound. Mac Jansen followed by finishing off a smooth pass from Ivan Bondarenko. Yates then capped the night with his second goal, picking the top corner on the power play. Binghamton cruised the rest of the way, closing out a convincing 6-1 victory.

Goaltender Connor McAnanama was stellar between the pipes, stopping 18 of the 19 shots he faced. His counterpart, John Werber, also performed admirably, turning aside 40 of 46.

The Black Bears return to action next Friday when they welcome the Athens Rock Lobsters for the first time.

PORT HURON PROWLERS at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

Prowlers Return Favor, Stun Bobcats Late To Split Weekend

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - For the second straight night, a Blue Ridge Bobcats goaltender made 50 saves. For the second straight night, the game winning goal came in the final minute of regulation. For the second straight night, it was a 4-3 final. Only this time, it was the Port Huron Prowlers who ended up on the winning side of that score. Lukas Lacny lifted his club with a snipe past Hunter Virostek with just 6.7 remaining in regulation to stun and shock a huge crowd of better than 2,000 at Hitachi Energy Arena on Military Appreciation Night.

Nicholas Favaro put up 2 power play goals in the first 3:38 of the contest to launch Port Huron to an early 2-0 lead. The Bobcats responded with three straight goals, one coming in the opening frame. Brandon Reller snuck home a wrist shot through the five-hole of Reid Cooper to cut the Prowlers lead to one heading into the first intermission.

Blue Ridge struck quickly in the middle frame on a carry over power play, as Mike Mercurio and Danny Martin teamed up to tie the score just 1:06 into the second. 6:02 later, Mercurio struck again, sniping a wrister home after a center ice turnover by Favaro for an unassisted go-ahead goal that would be the final Blue Ridge tally of the night. Mercurio's multi-goal night earned him third star.

Favaro completed a hat trick with his third power play goal of the evening to tie the game with just under 4 minutes left, followed 4:50 later by Lacny's late GWG. Favaro and Lacny earned second and first star respectively.

The Bobcats complete a three game homestand Friday night against the Twin City Thunderbirds for Superhero & Mascot Mania night.

Prowlers Defeat Bobcats at the Buzzer

by Will Wiegelman

Wytheville, VA - A night after the Blue Ridge Bobcats scored in the final minute of regulation to defeat the Port Huron Prowlers, Lukas Lacny returned the favor, potting the game winner with 6.7 seconds left. The teams split their first series of the season.

After fights off the first three puck drops, Port Huron struck first as Nick Favaro blasted a one-timer home on the power play. Just over two minutes later, it was deja vu as the defenseman wired his second PP tally of the night.

Brandon Reller got one back and it was 2-1 after a feisty first period that lasted roughly an hour of real time.

After Daniel Martin tapped in a man-advantage marker, Michael Mercurio took a turnover and put the Bobcats in the lead. Favaro completed his hat trick with another power-play goal, this one a wrist shot, and it was 3-3 heading to the third. It's the first hat trick by a Prowler this season.

"We were moving the puck around really well," Favaro said. "The puck dropped for me in some good spots so shoutout to the other guys on the unit."

That score lasted until the final seconds of regulation. The Prowlers exited their zone and Arttu Heikkilä entered the Blue Ridge end. He passed it to his left to Matt Graham, who drove the net and fed a backhand pass to Lacny. It was an easy tap in for his third goal of the weekend.

"We put a lot of emphasis on how we were going to break out significantly better than yesterday," said Prowlers associate head coach Chris Paulin. "Of course, you see it on the game winning goal. Perfectly executed defensive zone draw. The breakout and zone entry were perfect and everybody landed at the proper spots."

Lacny added two assists to his goal and Alex Johnson had a pair of helpers too. Reid Cooper got the win after 38 saves.

Reller and Mercurio each added an assist to their goals while Hunter Virostek made 50 stops.

Before heading back to Wytheville in two weeks, the Prowlers return to Port Huron for a two-game set with the Indiana Sentinels.

WATERTOWN WOLVES at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

Hat Tricks Swept by Wolves, Can't Mount Comeback

by Tyler Platz & Lexi Burkey-Yau

Danbury, CT - The Danbury Hat Tricks dropped both games of their weekend series against the Watertown Wolves, falling 4-3 on Friday, Nov. 7, and 7-4 on Saturday, Nov. 8. With Saturday's loss, Danbury is in danger of slipping to fifth in the Empire Division if the Blue Ridge Bobcats defeat Port Huron.

Following an instigating penalty on Hat Tricks defenseman Jackson Legro, Watertown opened the scoring with an Egor Filippov goal on the man advantage in the first period. Wolves forward Chris Corgan made it 2-0 early in the second before Filippov netted his second power-play goal of the night.

After a flurry of moves in late October, it's clear the transformed Hat Tricks' best asset is its top line, consisting of rookies Drew Welsch (4 goals, 4 assists), Jordon Kromm (5 goals, 1 assist), and Alexander Legkov (8 goals, 10 assists).

Against the Wolves, Danbury's No. 1 line dominated ice time and tested Watertown goalie Matt Lenz early in the first frame, helping the Hat Tricks outshoot the Wolves 17-11.

The Welsch-Kromm-Legkov connection cooled off after Danbury fell into a 4-0 hole early in the second period. Legkov put the Hat Tricks on the board with his ninth goal of the season, which leads all players at 8:59 in the second period.

Watertown forwards Quinn Chevers and Yefim Mishkin each got on the scoresheet as well, capping off a strong five-goal period for the Wolves. Legkov extended his five-game goal streak to six with Danbury's first of the night midway through the period, followed by forward Kaiden Kanderka's first professional goal at 15:28 of the second frame.

Danbury forward Josh Newberg and Watertown forward Pasquale Demitrio found the net in the third period, and Hat Tricks defenseman Trey Deloury scored his first professional goal. Still, it wasn't enough for a comeback as Corgan cashed in on Danbury's empty net.

With the season series split at two games apiece, the 4-5-1 Hat Tricks return to the ice Friday, Nov. 14, when they host the Wolves for the fifth game of this six-game series.

COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at TWIN CITY THUNDERBIRDS

Thunderbirds Win 6-3 Decision over River Dragons

by Kendall Grayson

Winston-Salem, NC - The Twin City Thunderbirds, proud members of the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL), won a 6-3 decision over the Columbus River Dragons Saturday night at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena during the team's "Veterans Night" game.

Jon Buttitta (2), Michael Mania (2), Jiri Pestuka, and Gus Ford scored goals for the Thunderbirds in the win. Boris Babik backstopped the team to victory in a 40-save-on-43-shot effort in net. Twin City returns to action next weekend with two games against the Blue Ridge Bobcats. Friday's game will be played on the road at Hitachi Energy Arena, with puck drop set for 7:35pm ET. The Thunderbirds will return home on Saturday night to host the Bobcats. Puck drop for Saturday's home game at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena is set for 6:05pm ET.

Brodie Thorton netted a powerplay goal just over five minutes into Saturday's battle to give the visiting River Dragons a 1-0 lead in the matchup. Lucas Texmo and Ryan Galvin each recorded an assist on the scoring play. Gus Ford netted his team-leading seventh goal of the season with under seven minutes to play in the 1st period to bring the game to a 1-1 tie. Ford's goal was netted on the powerplay, and was assisted by Zach White and Jiri Pestuka. Michael Mania netted his first career goal in the FPHL at 16:38 of Saturday's 1st period to give Twin City a 2-1 lead in the battle. Mania's goal was scored on the powerplay, and was assisted by Roman Kraemer and Gus Ford. The Thunderbirds outshot the River Dragons by a 19-15 margin during the opening period, and the team carried a one-goal advantage into the 2nd period.

Ryan Hunter brought the game to a 2-2 tie with a powerplay goal for Columbus at 3:30 of Saturday's middle period. His goal was assisted by Tyler Barrow and Lucas Texmo. Michael Mania gave Twin City a 3-2 lead in the matchup with an even-strength goal at 3:55 of the 2nd period. Noah Hippolyte-Smith and Jon Buttitta each notched an assist on the scoring play. Jiri Pestuka scored his first goal of the season, and 150th career FPHL goal, with under three minutes to play in the 2nd period to give Twin City a two-goal advantage in the matchup. Pestuka's game-winning goal was assisted by Jan Salak and Roman Kraemer. The Thunderbirds outshot the River Dragons 16-11 during the 2nd period, and took a 4-2 lead into Saturday's final period.

Jon Buttitta scored for the first time this season at 7:09 of the 3rd period to give the Thunderbirds a 5-2 lead in the battle. Jiri Pestuka notched an assist on Buttitta's goal. Kevin Szabad scored Columbus's final goal of the weekend at 12:40 of the 3rd period. The goal was netted on the powerplay, and was assisted by Chiwetin Blacksmith, and Lucas Texmo. In the final second of Saturday night's showdown between the Thunderbirds and River Dragons, Jon Buttitta netted an empty-net goal to seal Twin City's second win of the season. The goal was his second of the period, and was scored unassisted. The Thunderbirds outshot the River Dragons by a final margin of 44-43 during the contest. Twin City won the game by three goals, and improved to 1-1-0 in head-to-head matchups against Columbus this season.

Boris Babik's 40-save performance gave him his second win of the season in goal for the Thunderbirds. Tyler Roy recorded the loss in goal for Columbus after making 27 saves on 32 shots in relief effort of Trevor Babin. Babin made 11 saves in just over 12 minutes of gametime during the 1st period, before being ejected from the contest following a fight with Twin City's Jacob Schnapp.

Jiri Pestuka's three-point performance, including scoring the game-winning goal of Saturday's contest, earned him 1st Star honors. Jon Buttitta and Michael Mania were named 2nd and 3rd Stars, respectively.

RIVER DRAGONS DEFEATED IN SECOND HALF OF ROAD BACK-TO-BACK

by Liam Gotimer

Winston-Salem, NC - The Columbus River Dragons fell to the Twin City Thunderbirds by a final score of 6-3 on Saturday night at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

At 5:01 of the first period, while on the power play, Brodie Thornton opened the scoring for Columbus, beating Boris Babik five-hole with a wrist shot to make it 1-0.

At 12:15, River Dragons defenseman Mike Winn was sent to the box for slashing, giving the Thunderbirds a power play.

Just five seconds into the man advantage, Jacob Schnapp threw multiple punches at Nathan Balkwill, drawing goaltender Trevor Babin into the fray. Babin and Schnapp dropped the gloves, and both were ejected from the game.

With Babin's night over, Tyler Roy, who started the previous game for Columbus, entered in relief.

Following the lengthy delay, Gus Ford capitalized on the power play to tie the game 1-1.

A few minutes later, while on another power play, Twin City struck again as Michael Mania found the back of the net to give the Thunderbirds a 2-1 lead.

At 3:30 of the second period, while on the power play, Ryan Hunter buried a shot from the slot, assisted by Tyler Barrow, to even the score at 2-2.

Just 25 seconds later, Mania responded with his second goal of the night on a breakaway to restore the Thunderbirds' lead.

At 17:19, Jiri Pestuka extended Twin City's advantage, finishing off a high-quality scoring chance to make it 4-2.

Despite a strong start to the final frame for Columbus, Jon Buttita made it 5-2 Thunderbirds just 7:09 into the third period.

At 12:40, while on the power play, Kevin Szabad ripped a one-timer through Babik's legs to cut the deficit to 5-3.

With one second remaining in regulation, Buttita sealed the game with an empty-net goal, securing the 6-3 final.

"The nail in the coffin tonight was their third goal," Head Coach Jerome Bechard said. "The play was clearly offside, but unfortunately, their replay camera wasn't operational. That said, we didn't generate any sustained pressure all night and over handled the puck far too often. Credit to our power play, it was outstanding again, but at even strength, we just couldn't get anything going."

In the loss for Columbus, Tyler Roy made 27 saves on 32 shots, while Trevor Babin stopped all 11 shots he faced before his ejection. In the win for Twin City, Boris Babik turned aside 40 of 43.

BATON ROUGE ZYDECO at BILOXI BREAKERS

Exception Line Lifts Biloxi

by Devin Dobek

Biloxi, MS - Yaro Yevdokimov, Khaden Henry and Lucas Piekarczyk, get familiar with those 3 names. Otherwise known as the "Exception Line," the trio combined for 13 points in a 6-5 OT thriller, led by Khaden Henry's first career Hat Trick and Lucas Piekarczyk's overtime winner.

After the two teams had to be separated last night at the conclusion of the contest, one could imagine that Game 2 between these proximate foes would be a fun one. Period 1 certainly didn't disappoint. Just 32 seconds after the puck was dropped, Khaden Henry sprung free off a slick feed from Yaro Yevdokimov and buried a far side wrister to grab the momentum and put the home team up 1-0. With the crowd already buzzing, AJ Schlepp and Brice French squared up for round 2 at center ice. The exchange appeared to be relatively equal, until the Breakers new enforcer pulled the jersey of French over his head and threw him down. Once French was back up to his feet, it could be seen that his uniform had been ripped in half during the altercation. The heavyweight tilt had the building jumping, and as Schlepp skated to the box he waved his arms to formally introduce himself to the home crowd at Breaker Bay. A minute later, Khaden Henry struck again. In a similar play to the previous, Yevdokimov hit Henry in stride and this time he beat Stephens with a backhander to double the margin. The next ten minutes featured numerous shoving matches and jawwing between the two sides, but the officials understood where the tensions were and did a tremendous job of diffusing each altercation without heading to the penalty sheet. Across the midway point, a turnover made way for a Narek Aleksanyan breakaway. With a head of speed, Aleksanyan cashed in for the first goal against Rosenzweig in over 70 minutes of ice time. The score held at 2-1 through 20 minutes, with the shots a measly 7-6 in favor of Biloxi.

Period 1 was about as good as it gets for what a fan enjoys, so period 2 would have a high bar to surpass. The first 10 minutes the teams began to trade chances more consistently, but Mr. Incredible was inevitable to strike again. Khaden Henry completed his Hat Trick at the 3:30 mark by pounding in a rebound, his first career professional Hat Trick and the first at home in franchise history. Once all the buckets were cleared away, it was time to return to action. The pushing and shoving began to reignite after whistles, and even a couple skirmishes after goals commenced. The next dose of offense came from a familiar face, as former Mississippi Sea Wolf Ross Bartlett finished a beautiful individual effort while being taken down to make it 3-2. The Zydeco led 19-17 in shots but trailed 3-2 with one final frame to go.

With a precious 3 Continental Division points on the line, both teams went to battle back and forth in period 3. 5 goals had been scored in the contest through 40 minutes, and another 5 were on tap in the closing 20. The first punch came from the Zydeco, with Scott Shorrock burying a shot moments after receiving a cross crease pass at 2:38 to tie it at 3. Biloxi kicked it into sport-mode around the midway point, with new addition Darius Davidson finishing a loose puck on the powerplay to put the Breakers ahead. Just over 3 minutes later, the Breakers were given another man advantage, and a vacant puck all alone off a deflection was hammered home by Cole Crowder to restore the lead to 2. However, the Zydeco wouldn't go away. At 14:34 Bartlett and Larwood connected on a deflection goal just outside the blue paint to steal one back. Moments later, the Zydeco went shorthanded. However, while a man down, Narek Aleksanyan teed up Ross Bartlett for a highlight reel give and go shorthanded tally to tie the game at 5 and stun Breaker Bay. The rest of regulation time bled out, and this game would need extra.

In overtime the Breakers had all 4 shots on goal. Yevdokimov had a breakaway opportunity that went off the post and out, and everybody in the building thought he had ended it. As the game went on, Lucas Piekarczyk walked down between the circles and fired a bullet to beat his former teammate Ed Coffey and earn the Breakers their first overtime win, home win, and sweep in franchise history.

The Zydeco lose their 6th straight, and fall to 1-5-1. They will be off next weekend and looking to regroup. The Breakers improve to 3-4-0, and will host the Monroe Moccasins next Friday at 7:00 before heading to Columbus to square off with the River Dragons on Saturday at 7:05.

MONROE MOCCASINS at ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS

Rock Lobsters Reignite Rivalry, Light Up Snakes on Military Appreciation Night

by Matteen Zibanejadrad

Athens, GA - The Athens Rock Lobsters defeated the Monroe Moccasins 6-2 on Military Appreciation Night, a Saturday-night victory for the Crustaceans to stay undefeated on the year.

The rivalry between the two Continental Division teams returned to the Tank with aplomb, starting with Daniil Glukharyov and Casey Gerstein dropping the gloves and the Russian scoring a double-leg takedown to end the tussle.

The Moccasins scored two goals right out of that fight, with Carlos Fornaris and Jared Christy taking a 2-0 lead with tallies a minute apart.

The Crustaceans proved they weren't shell-shocked though, beginning their claw back with a long-range shot that snuck through the five hole of Richie Parent after he collided with Eric Neiley in the crease.

Continuing his red-hot start to his professional career, Luke Croucher redirected a Neiley pass with his backhand for his fifth goal of the year.

Starting the second period with a 2-2 scoreline, the Rock Lobsters exploded for four goals over the next 20 minutes.

Athens found its first lead at the 6:25 mark as the partnership of Neiley and Garrett Milan proved fruitful yet again. Neiley fed Milan, who flipped it in under the bar.

Kayson Gallant found a loose puck at the blue line and doubled the host's lead with a bar-down shot with 12 minutes expired.

The Lobsters continued to cruise, with Filip Virgili converting on a saved Greco shot.

Another power play goal to add to the Rock Lobsters season, Croucher scored his second of the night and the final goal of the game before a scoreless third period.

Carter McPhail saved 34 of the 36 shots he faced, with the rookie also remaining undefeated with a 4-0-0 record.

The Rock Lobsters (7-0-0-0, 21 pts) return to Akins Ford Arena tomorrow at 4:05 p.m. for Faith and Family night.

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Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from November 8, 2025


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