FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps
FPHL Federal Prospects Hockey League

FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps

Published on December 12, 2025 under Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) News Release


INDIANA SENTINELS at PORT HURON PROWLERS

Prowlers Skid Hits Five

by Will Wiegelman

Port Huron, MI - The Port Huron Prowlers' losing streak reached five games after a 4-3 loss at home to the Indiana Sentinels on December 12. Two of Indiana's three wins this season have come at McMorran Place.

"We had some success early in the season and, sometimes, when you have that early success, you forget how much effort it took to have that success and you start to think that's who you are," said Prowlers associate head coach Chris Paulin. "You think you've made it or think you've earned something. You forget the pains that it took, the will that it took to win every single game, every single shift. You start to forget about that and you don't play with the same urgency and the same intensity."

Things started off hot for the Prowlers. They got the teddy bear toss goal off a shot from Jamie Bucell just over two minutes in. Later in the period, Reggie Millette set up Austin Fetterly who made it 2-0 with a rip from the high slot.

Penalties began to haunt Port Huron in the final minutes of the frame. Nolan Dawson's quick shot on a Sentinels' power play cut the deficit in half before the break.

In the second, Denver Craig found Ethan Esposito a step behind the Port Huron defense and he put the puck five-hole on Reid Cooper. With under three minutes left in the period, Indiana had a power play and Esposito knocked down a clearing attempt and ripped a shot off the post. It hit Cooper and caromed across the goal line. That tally is currently credited to Craig.

"Something has to give with the penalties," said Prowlers assistant coach Alex Johnson. "We can't keep shooting ourselves in the foot constantly and taking these numerous penalties that hurt us. We can play hard without the penalties."

The Prowlers got back even early in the third. Off a faceoff win, Nick Favaro's shot was stopped by John Werber but Johnson was right there for the rebound. The game was untied when Ivan Ponivanov stepped out of the penalty box and put home his first goal as a Sentinel, and the game winner, on the breakaway.

"One thing I've noticed is that, when things are going well in a game, I think there's a great focus on executing, with discipline, the systems we've put in," Paulin said. "When things start to go chaotic, or start to go sideways, something gets us off our focus, we start going onto our own page. I thought I saw that a lot down the stretch."

Johnson added an assist to his goal and Millette got credit for a pair of assists. Copper stopped 17 shots in net.

Craig and Esposito currently both have a goal and an assist while Werber has won back-to-back games after a 26-save performance.

The teams finish their weekend series on December 13 at 7:05 P.M. It's Hockey Fights Hunger Night and fans who bring in non-perishable food donations will be entered into a raffle to win a custom Prowlers cooler filled with steak. Tickets are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.

BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

FOUR GAME WIN STREAK SNAPPED BY 3-2 SHOOTOUT LOSS

by Tyler Platz

Danbury, CT - The Hat Tricks' four-game winning streak came to an end after a hard-fought 3-2 loss that required a shootout. Despite the loss, Danbury goalie Sebastian Resar kept the Hat Tricks in the game, stopping 54 of 56 shots through regulation and overtime.

Danbury forward Noah Robinson got on the scoresheet first at the 10:24 mark of the opening period, beating Black Bears goalie Connor McAnanama high on a two-on-one rush to put the Hat Tricks up 1-0.

Less than a minute later, at 9:33, Robinson put the puck on net again off the rush. Hat Tricks forward Austan Bellefeuille, stationed in front, screened McAnanama and tipped the puck in to extend Danbury's lead to 2-0.

The Hat Tricks' four first-period penalties kept some momentum on the Black Bears' side, momentum they used to cut Danbury's lead in half when Binghamton forward Tyson Kirkby scored an even-strength goal at the 7:48 mark during a scramble in front of Resar to make it 2-1.

Late in the first frame, FPHL scoring leader Alexander Legkov broke in alone after a stretch pass from Danbury defenseman Kadyn Fennell. Black Bears defenseman Daniel Stone was whistled for hooking, giving Legkov a penalty shot, but McAnanama denied him.

Binghamton controlled the second period, outshooting the Hat Tricks 19-2, but the score remained 2-1. Black Bears forward CJ Stubbs, the league's leading scorer, nearly tied the game.

At the 9:09 mark, Stubbs broke in one-on-one against Resar after sneaking past Hat Tricks defenseman Trey Deloury. Resar's sliding pad save preserved Danbury's one-goal lead. With 3:33 left in the third period, Kirkby buried a one-timer in front for his second goal of the night to tie the game 2-2.

After a scoreless overtime period, the game went to a shootout, where the Black Bears won after Stubbs beat Resar to end it.

Danbury travels to Binghamton tomorrow for the second of four straight against the Black Bears. Faceoff is at 7 p.m

Binghamton Wins 9th in-a-row

by Brooks Hill

Danbury, CT - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Danbury Hat Tricks 3-2 in the shootout on Friday night. Tyson Kirkby scored two goals, forcing overtime. CJ Stubbs scored the lone goal in the shootout giving Binghamton their ninth-straight victory and their sixth-straight over Danbury this season.

On Friday night, Binghamton found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard in the first period. Danbury was able to score twice in a span of 58 seconds at the midpoint of the frame. The Danbury Ice Arena faithful let the Black Bears hear it, but Tyson Kirkby made them listen. Kirkby scored to cut the lead in half at 12:18 and that was the final goal of the period. After one, Danbury led 2-1.

Neither side was able score in the second. Both teams traded power play opportunities, but the goalies stood tall holding the score at 2-1. After forty, Danbury led 2-1 but the Black Bears were peppering Danbury with 36 shots on goal.

The parade to the penalty box continued for both sides in the third. Still, no team was able to score on the power play. As time winded down, Binghamton was searching for the game-tying goal. With under five minutes left to play, who else but Tyson Kirkby delivers the second Binghamton goal of the night. Kirkby's second multi-goal game this season in three games. We headed to overtime tied at 2-2.

Binghamton started overtime on the penalty kill, but managed only to give up one shot on goal on the power play. Binghamton was unable to grab the goal at 3-on-3 and for the second time this season, the Black Bears headed to the shootout.

This time CJ Stubbs was the hero scoring the only goal in round two. Connor McAnanama stopped all three Danbury shooters, earning his 10th victory of the season. Binghamton wins 3-2 and improves to 18-2-0 on the season.

PEE DEE ICECATS at ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS

Teddy Bears Rain in the Tank; Rock Lobsters Win in Shootout

by Matteen Zibanejadrad

Athens, GA - The Athens Rock Lobsters defeated the Pee Dee Ice Cats 4-3 in a shootout in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,548 members of Crustacean Nation on Teddy Bear Toss Night.

It didn't take long for it to rain teddies in the Tank, as Eric Neiley opened the scoring just 1:40 into the game.

One half of Pee Dee's Latvian twin tandem, Patriks Marcinkevics leveled it less than five minutes later with a beautiful move on the backhand.

Garrett Milan resumed his magic from the power play last night and found perfect placement to pass a man-advantage goal into the back of the net for the 2-1 lead.

Netting his second of the season, T J Prexler knotted it back up with the fourth total goal of the first period.

The game was marked by 74 minutes of penalties, and both teams found a power-play goal in the third period.

Gleb Bandurkin tallied his fifth goal over four games and Dominiks Marcinkevics followed his brother's lead, scoring one of his own.

Regulation couldn't separate the two Continental Division sides, with Carter McPhail making important saves in the five minutes of overtime to send the game to a shootout.

Neiley found the top shelf in his attempt and McPhail stopped all three shots in the first shootout of his professional career.

The hosts came out victorious in their first shootout of the season, and McPhail made 44 saves in his eighth win of the year.

The Rock Lobsters (13-2-3-0, 45 pts) travel to the Florence Civic Center to take on the Pee Dee IceCats in a Saturday-night series finale in Florence, S.C.

ICECATS GET SHOOTOUT POINT AGAINST ROCK LOBSTERS

by Tom Callahan

Athens, GA - The Pee Dee IceCats erased three separate one-goal deficits to push the game past regulation, but it would be the Athens Rock Lobsters who skated away with the extra point in a 4-3 shootout.

Patriks Marcinkevics, TJ Prexler and Dominiks Marcinkevics all scored in regulation for the IceCats, who picked up a point for the first time against the Rock Lobsters. Ricardo Gonzalez turned aside 30 shots through overtime in earning the shootout point.

The final game of the three-in-three between the two teams shifts the scene to Florence Center at 7:15 pm Saturday night. Join the IceCats for the team's first annual Teddy Bear Toss! Bring a stuffed plush to throw on the ice when the IceCats score their first goal of the game, with all toys going to help the less fortunate right here in the Florence area this holiday season and beyond.

COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at TWIN CITY THUNDERBIRDS

Thunderbirds Drop 2-1 Decision against River Dragons

by Kendall Grayson

Winston-Salem, NC - The Twin City Thunderbirds, proud members of the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL), dropped a 2-1 decision on home ice Friday night to the Columbus River Dragons. Gus Ford netted the Thunderbirds lone goal during the contest. Twin City returns to action Saturday night in another home matchup against Columbus. Puck drop for Saturday night's rematch is scheduled for 6:05pm.

Gus Ford scored the only goal of Friday's opening period to give Twin City a 1-0 lead in the matchup. Ford's goal was his team-leading twelfth of the season, and was assisted by Zach White and James Farmer. Ford's goal was netted even strength. The Thunderbirds were outshot by a 10-8 margin during the 1st period, but carried a one-goal advantage into the 2nd period. Twin City outshot Columbus by a 13-10 margin in Friday's 2nd period. Each team was held off the scoreboard during the middle period, and the Thunderbirds opened the 3rd period with a 1-0 lead.

The River Dragons scored two unanswered goals during the final period of Friday's matchup to seal a 2-1 victory. Kyle Moore scored Columbus' first goal of the game at 7:27 of the 3rd period to bring the score to a 1-1 tie. Benjamin Pizzimenti and Matt Stoia each recorded an assist on the scoring play. Alex Storjohann netted a powerplay goal at 13:20 of the 3rd period to give the River Dragons a 2-1 lead in the matchup. Ryan Hunter and Josh Colten assisted on the scoring play. Twin City lifted goaltender Boris Babik for an extra attacker during the final minutes of the game, but were unable to net the game tying goal. The Thunderbirds outshot the River Dragons by a 41-36 margin during the battle.

Boris Babik made 34 saves on 36 shots during the game for Twin City. Tyler Roy collected the win in net for the River Dragons in a 40-save-on-41-shot effort.

TWO THIRD PERIOD GOALS COMPLETES COLUMBUS COMEBACK

by Liam Gotimer

Winston-Salem, NC - The Columbus River Dragons defeated the Twin-City Thunderbirds by a final score of 2-1 on Friday night at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Boris Babik started in goal for Twin City, while Tyler Roy received the nod for Columbus.

Twin-City scored first, as Gus Ford found a bit of daylight at the right circle and rifled a wrist shot past Tyler Roy.

Despite the shots being 26-21, the score remained 1-0 entering the third period, with Columbus hoping for a comeback.

Step one to the comeback came when Kyle Moore buried a wrist shot from the far circle, after hard working set-up from Benjamin Pizzimenti.

At 13:20, while on the power-play, the River Dragons found the go-ahead goal. It came off of the stick of Alex Storjohann, with the assists going to Ryan Hunter and Josh Colten.

For being on the road, I thought we played a really good road game," Head Coach Jerome Bechard said. "We had a strong first period, and even though Roy got beat on a nice shot, that's going to happen from time to time. We stuck to the game plan for the most part, moved the puck well through all three zones, and stayed with it. We were rewarded with a nice high-low play from Moore, and then on the power play, even though it was a bit of a broken play, Storjohann had a hot hand and beat Babik with a quick wrist shot from the middle of the slot. After that, we buckled down and played well, so overall it was a pretty good game."

WATERTOWN WOLVES at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

Bobcats Beat Buzzer, Earn 6-5 Walkoff Win Over Wolves

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - On the night that their captain scored his 100th career FPHL goal, the Blue Ridge Bobcats didn't end the thrills there, scoring 4 goals in a wild third period and notching the game winner with 8.1 seconds left in regulation to walk-off with a thrilling 6-5 win over the Watertown Wolves before a crowd of better than 1,500 at Hitachi Energy Arena.

Both teams took the first five minutes and change of the opening frame to feel each other out, as the two franchises met for the first time since April of 2024. Yefim Mishkin opened the scoring for Watertown with a wrist shot that beat Hunter Virostek low-blocker side from the high slot just over 5 minutes into the 1st period. Quinn Chevers followed just past halfway in the opening frame with the first of three Wolves' power play goals on the evening.

Filip Hlavac gave Blue Ridge some much needed momentum going into the first intermission with a power play goal of his own at the 19:42 mark of the opening 20 minutes to make it a 2-1 game.

Watertown notched two of the three goals in the second period, both being power play markers from defenseman Dominic Della-Civita. The first a wrist shot from the point through traffic, the second a one-time blast that beat Virostek top corner glove side. That pair of man advantage goals were sandwiched by a milestone marker. Captain Danny Martin scored his 100th career FPHL goal at the 15:27 mark of the second, redirecting a wrist shot from Hlavac past Brendan Colgan and sending the Friday night crowd into a frenzy. But, the Wolves took a 4-2 lead into the second intermission.

Anthony Shrum took over in relief of Virostek in net in the third, and made key desperation saves to keep Blue Ridge going. The Bobcats found their forecheck early and often in the third, starting the scoring of a combined 5-goal final frame just 49 seconds into it with a top shelf wrist shot by Nick Stuckless to cut it to a 4-3 Watertown advantage. Just over 5 minutes later, Carson Andreoli roofed a wrister home out of a wacky net mouth scramble to tie the game at 4. 7:24 later, Nikita Kozyrev finally got the monkey off his back with his first goal as a Bobcat, jetting between two Watertown defenders and stuffing a backhander short side to put Blue Ridge ahead 5-4.

Brad Reitter briefly tied the game at 5 with just over 30 seconds left in regulation, roofing a rebound past Shrum with the Wolves pulling Colgan for the extra attacker. Then, with 8.1 left in regulation, PJ Demitrio stunned the crowd and shocked his former team, backhanding a shot off Colgan's shoulder and between his pads for the latest game-winning regulation goal in franchise history.

Kozyrev's goal and assist earned him third star, and Brandon Reller netted second star honors with a season-high 4 assists on the evening. Martin's century-mark goal garnered him first star.

This was the first of a three game weekend series, which continues tomorrow night on Teddy Bear Toss night. Puck drop is set for 7:30 PM.

BILOXI BREAKERS at MONROE MOCCASINS

MOCCASINS ROLL PAST BREAKERS 10-2 ON STAR WARS NIGHT

by Joseph Furtado

Monroe, LA -The Monroe Moccasins turned Star Wars Night into their most explosive offensive performance of the season, scoring a season-high 10 goals in a 10-2 victory over the Biloxi Breakers on Friday night at the Monroe Civic Center.

Monroe scored in every period and finished with a 47-29 advantage in shots, building momentum early and extending it throughout the game.

Jared Christy opened the scoring at 7:46 of the first period, and Casey Gerstein followed at 8:31 to give the Moccasins a 2-0 lead. Biloxi answered at 10:11, but Corson Green pushed the lead back to two at 14:15. The Breakers scored again just 13 seconds later, cutting the deficit to 3-2 before the end of the opening frame.

The Moccasins took control in the second period with three unanswered goals. Christy scored his second of the night at 2:15, Frank Schumacher added a goal at 8:36 and Austin Albrecht made it 6-2 at 19:26.

Monroe continued to pull away in the third period. Aaro Tuovinen scored the first of his FPHL career just 49 seconds in followed by goals from Tucker Scantlebury, Carlos Fornaris and Schumacher to help the Moccasins to a 10-2 win. The Moccasins improved to 12-4-2-0-0 on the season while the Breakers dropped to 4-12-1-1-0. Both teams will meet again tomorrow night at 7:05pm.

Monroe Strangles Biloxi 10-2

by Devin Dobek

Monroe, LA - A shorthanded Breakers group hit the ice looking to pull off the improbable against a strong Mocs team this past Friday night. After a competitive 1st period, Monroe stepped on the gas and notched 7 unanswered goals to cruise to a 10-2 victory.

The Breakers and Moccasins were ready to go for their 6th meeting of the season and the first of 7 in the next 5 weeks. In front of a rowdy crowd on Star Wars Night in Monroe, the Snakes came out strong with some early pepper on Josh Rosenzweig. After stopping the first 11 shots he faced, a Jared Christy redirection found its way to the twine to put the home team up 1-0. Just 45 seconds later, Casey Gerstein made a great individual effort to block a shot at the blue line and was off to the races. Making a couple moves, he finished with a nifty backhand to double the margin at 2-0. But the Breakers were not going to go down without a fight. At 10:11, new addition Tim Payne drove hard to the goal and forced a backhand through rookie goaltender Gabe Rosek to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. Searching for an answer, Monroe established the offensive zone and a loose puck was banged home at 14:15 by Corson Green to restore the lead to 2. Before the celebration could subside, just 13 seconds later Trey Fischer crashed the net on a Dylan Infantino shot and shoveled home the loose change to make it 3-2. The score held at 3-2 as the horn sounded, with the Moccasins outshooting the Breakers 21-13.

The second period is when things began to unravel for the visitors. The Moccasins began a surge of 7 unanswered tallies, including 3 in the middle frame. At 2:15 Jared Christy potted another for his second of the evening to make it 4-2. At 8:36 the captain Frank Schumacher pinched down low and finished on the doorstep to make it 5-2. And then in the final minute of the second frame Austin Albrecht punched in a one-timer on the back post to make it 6-2. The Moccasins led in shots 31-22 through 40 minutes.

The 3rd period was a continuation of Monroe dominance, both offensively and physically. It took just 49 seconds for Aaro Tuovinen to fire a shot through traffic past Rosenzweig for his first professional goal to make it 7-2. The final 3 Mocs tallies came inside the final 6 minutes. At 14:36, Tucker Scantlebury patiently drew the Biloxi tender out of his crease and finished top shelf to make it 8-2. 1:02 later, Carlos Fornaris walked down the slot and scored on the stick side to make it 9-2. The final punch came from Schumacher once again with just 16 seconds to play, spearing home a rebound to make it 10-2. The Moccasins outshot the Breakers 44-27 in full time.

The Breakers fall to 5-12-1, as the Moccasins improve to 12-4-2. The two teams will square off tomorrow night again at 7:00 CST inside the Monroe Civic Center.

TOPEKA SCARECROWS at BATON ROUGE ZYDECOS

Zydeco Drop 4-2 Decision to Topeka on Teddy Bear Toss Night

by Bryan Flores

Baton Rouge, LA -The Baton Rouge Zydeco came up short Friday night, falling 4-2 to the Topeka Scarecrows at the Raising Cane's River Center in front of a Teddy Bear Toss crowd of 2,407 fans.

Baton Rouge struck first and gave the River Center plenty to celebrate early. Just 2:19 into the opening period, Nick Ketola buried the Teddy Bear Toss goal, sending stuffed animals raining onto the ice as part of the Zydeco's annual holiday tradition. Ketola's marker was assisted by Heath Ford and Steven Matchim, giving Baton Rouge an early 1-0 lead.

Topeka answered back later in the first, as Cameron Clark evened the score at 13:23. The Scarecrows then took their first lead early in the second period on a goal from Jacob Gagnon, but the Zydeco responded once again. At 10:24 of the middle frame, Ethan Matchim finished off a feed from Ross Bartlett to knot the game at 2-2 heading into the third period.

The deciding moment came late in the third. With just under three minutes remaining, Topeka capitalized on the power play as Boston Bird scored the go-ahead goal at 17:11. The Scarecrows sealed the win with an empty-net goal from Clark at 19:28, securing the 4-2 final.

The game featured plenty of physical play, including multiple fights and special-teams chances on both sides, but Topeka's late execution proved to be the difference.

Nick Ketola was named the third star of the game for Baton Rouge after scoring the Teddy Bear Toss goal, while Topeka's Cameron Clark and Boston Bird earned first and second star honors.

The Zydeco will look to respond quickly as they return to the ice tomorrow night against Topeka, once again at the Raising Cane's River Center.

Big Night From Clarke Gives Scarecrows 4-2 Win

by Jon Kliment

Baton Rouge, LA - The Scarecrows returned to the Raising Cane's River Center on Friday night for to reengage the Baton Rouge Zydeco. Though these two squads play in different divisions they are meeting 14 times this season with this being the third clash between them. After taking the first two games here in Baton Rouge, Topeka aimed for a chance to keep that streak going tonight.

Though the scoring got started early it was Baton Rouge who found the back of the net sending Teddy Bears flying through the air to give the Zydeco a 1-0 lead on a Nick Ketola odd angle shot that beat Daniil Bryzgalov just 2:19 into the game. Topeka had an answer however as 13:23 into the frame a loose puck found its way to the front of the net and Scott Coash poked it back to Cameron Clark who beat Connor Green over his shoulder to tie the game back up at one goal a piece.

As the second period got underway Topeka looked poised to have a big period as just 3:57 into action Jacob Gagnon found a puck in the top of the circle left there by Elijah Wilson and slapped it past Green for a 2-1 lead. However after finding no success with the man advantage Baton Rouge was able to hem the Scarecrows deep in their own end and Ethan Matchim went bar down past Bryzgalov to tie things back up at 10:24.

Neither side could find an advantage until late in the third both sides took penalties back and forth. After both sides had a couple of kills it was a double minor for high sticking on Narek Aleksanyan that led to Boston Bird tipping home a Gordon Whalen shot past Green for the 3-2 lead at 17:11 of the final period. Clark added a second goal on an empty netter that bounced off each Scarecrows player on the ice before finally ending up in the back of the net for the 4-2 victory.

Bryzgalov stopped 29 of 31 in the win, his seventh of the season.

Topeka goes right back at it tomorrow night at 7:05pm to take on the Zydeco again. Watch along on Youtube and Sporfie to keep up with the Scarecrows action this season.

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Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from December 12, 2025


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