FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps
FPHL Federal Prospects Hockey League

FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps

Published on December 26, 2025 under Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) News Release


ICECATS BREAK SLIDE, BEAT ATHENS 4-3

by Tom Callahan

Florence, SC - The Pee Dee IceCats rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Athens Rock Lobsters 4-3 in front of a franchise-record crowd of 4,689 fans at Florence Center on Friday night.

Trailing 3-1 late in the second period, Pee Dee began the rally at 16:41 when Patricks Marcinkevics drove in from the left wing, pulling away from a delayed hooking penalty to get to the front of the net and go forehand-to-backhand and tuck the puck in the five-hole of Rock Lobsters goaltender William Lavalliere (31 saves) to make it a 3-2 game.

Just 38 seconds later, the game turned when two separate fights broke out and resulted in ejections for Filip Virgili and Jordan Popoff as well as a five-minute major power play for the IceCats. They would cash in on the advantage at 18:19 when Trevor Lord scored to make it 3-3 just before the intermission.

Pee Dee pressed with the carryover power play time but didn't score until just after the major expired, with TJ Prexler cashing in from the low slot for the eventual game-winning goal at 2:28.

Late in the third period, Pee Dee was assessed back-to-back delay of game penalties and had to kill off 18 seconds of five-on three to hold onto the win.

Matt Sayles made 23 saves for the victory as the IceCats won in regulation for the first time since November 26 against Blue Ridge.

The same two teams rematch tomorrow night in Athens at 7:05 pm, with the Powers Properties Pregame Show starting 15 minutes prior to puck drop on the IceCats Broadcast Network.

Crustaceans Drop Two in a Row for First Time This Season

by Matteen Zibanegadrad

Florence, SC - The Athens Rock Lobsters were defeated in consecutive games for the first time this season, falling short in the Florence Civic Center with a 4-3 loss to the Pee Dee IceCats.

With 12:30 gone in the first period, Houston Wilson converted off of a rebound off the end boards to open the scoring.

Captain Carter Shinkaruk would be the first-period catalyst for the Crustaceans, finishing off of a beautiful move from Daniil Glukharyov with a one-timer past Matt Sayles.

Athens took its first lead with less than a minute to go in the opening frame, with Dominic Dumas' centering effort deflecting off of an Ice Cat for his first goal as a Rock Lobster.

The third unanswered goal for the visitors was scored by Filip Virgili in the second period, with the Swede finding the net to take a commanding 3-1 lead with more than half the game gone.

However, the hosts would go on a spell of three-unanswered goals of their own. Patriks Marcinkevics and Trevor Lord scored to tie the game up before the second intermission before the killing blow came from TJ Prexler in the early minutes of the third.

Back-to-back delay of game calls against Pee Dee created opportunity for Athens, but the game-tying goal never came.

The Ice Cats defeated Athens for the first time this season, and are now 1-4 against their Continental-Division counterpart.

The Rock Lobsters (14-4-4-0, 50 pts) close out the home-and-home series tomorrow night at Akins Ford Arena against the Pee Dee IceCats. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m.

BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at WATERTOWN WOLVES

Black Bears Over the Wolves, again

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - Friday night was the first of four consecutive games coming up between the Wolves and Black Bears, all in the Watertown Municipal Arena. Tonight was the sixth meeting of the season between the two teams, with Binghamton winning all five of the previous matchups.

It took only 2:26 of the first period for the league's leading power play, Binghamton Black Bears, to jump out to a 1-0 lead on a CJ Stubbs goal, assisted by Gavin Yates.

At the 8:40 mark Austin D'Orazio added to the lead when he wristed a shot past Watertown starter Breanden Colgan, assisted by Stubbs and Tyson Kirkby.

The Black Bears added one more goal at 18:15 mark with a Gehrett Sargis goal off a stretch pass from Jesse Anderson making it 3-0 Black Bears at the break.

CJ Stubbs netted his second of the night at the 3:56 mark of the second, extending the Black Bears lead to 4-0, with the assist going to Gavin Yates.

CJ Stubbs would grab a hat trick goal at 7:46, extending the lead to 5-0, assisted by Tyson Kirkby and Ivan Bonderenko.

The Wolves finally got on the board at the 9:23 mark when Brad Reitter got behind the Binghamton defense, and slapped a bouncing puck past Domenik Tmej making the score 5-1.

Newly acquired Hunter Hall netted his first Watertown goal at 10:44 of the period, giving the hometown team a little more life as they cut the lead to 5-2. Assists on the goal belonged to Steven Klinck and Zach Papapetros.

At 4:20 of the third, the Wolves comeback continued with a Yefim Mishkin short handed goal making the score 5-3.

Mac Jansen would put the Black Bears back up by three at the 7:12 mark, with the assist belonging to Geherett Sargis, pushing the final score to 6-3.

The Black Bears outshoot the Wolves 31-17 on the night and secure the win.

The Black Bears and Wolves will battle again on Saturday night with a start time of 6:15.

Stubbs Hat Trick Propels Binghamton

by Brooks Hill

Watertown, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Watertown Wolves 6-3 on Friday night. CJ Stubbs recorded another hat trick for Binghamton and led the game with three points.

The first period was all Binghamton; the Black Bears connected three times in the opening frame. CJ Stubbs started the scoring at 2:26 with a power play goal. Austin D'Orazio scored another power play goal at 8:40 and Gehrett Sargis finished the period with a goal at 18:45. After 20, Binghamton led 3-0 on 13 shots.

More goals poured in for the Black Bears in the second. Stubbs scored his second goal of the night by crashing the net with Gavin Yates and then completed the hat trick at 7:46 of the period. After Stubbs' third of the game, it was 5-0 Binghamton.

That's when Watertown found offense, small but noteworthy. Brad Reitter scored on a breakaway, then the Black Bears challenged for a potential missed offside call. Binghamton did not win the challenge and as a result were sent the penalty kill for the first time of the night. Hunter Hall scored on the man advantage and made it 5-2 before the second period ended.

The Wolves special teams' units stayed hot as they scored the first goal of the third period as well. This time, Yefim Mishkin scored shorthanded at 4:20 of period making it 5-3. Binghamton put an end to the scoring run from Watertown at 7:12 thanks to Mac Jansen and that would be the final tally of the night. Binghamton wins 6-3, their 13 win in-a-row.

TWIN CITY THUNDERBIRDS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS

RYAN HUNTER THE OVERTIME HERO AS COLUMBUS WINS, 4-3

By Liam Gotimer

Columbus, GA - The Columbus River Dragons took down the Twin-City Thunderbirds by a final score of 4-3 in overtime on Friday night at the Columbus Civic Center in Columbus, Georgia.

Boris Babik backstopped the crease for the visitors, while Tyler Roy was in goal again for the River Dragons.

The opening goal of the game came less than three minutes into the second period, and it came off the stick of former River Dragon Josh Labelle.

An outstanding individual effort from Alexander Jmaeff accounted for Columbus's first goal of the game, assisted by Benjamin Pizzimenti and Lucas Texmo.

The River Dragons took the lead at the end of the second period, with Ryan Galvin deflecting the puck into the net. The assists on the goal went to Ryan Hunter, who took the shot, and Alex Storjohann.

Two third-period goals brought the Thunderbirds ahead once more, as Jiri Pestuka and Gus Ford teamed up on the tallies for the road side.

With 10 seconds remaining in regulation time, and Tyler Roy pulled in favor of the extra attacker, Columbus evened the score. Kyle Moore tipped the game-tying goal after providing a net-front screen.

"We were lucky to have a point out of that post-Christmas game," Head Coach Jerome Bechard said. "It was very sloppy overall throughout, but our power play was a positive, and I'm glad we gutted the game out."

Tyler Roy earned his 10th win of the season in goal for Columbus, while Boris Babik suffered his seventh defeat for the Thunderbirds.

Thunderbirds Drop Overtime Decision to River Dragons

By Kendall Grayson

Columbus, GA - The Twin City Thunderbirds dropped an overtime decision to the Columbus River Dragons by a final score of 4-3 Friday night at the Columbus Civic Center. Josh Labelle, Jiri Pestuka, and Gus Ford each netted a goal for Twin City in the loss. The Thunderbirds return to action tomorrow night in another road contest against the River Dragons. Puck drop for tomorrow's matchup is set for 7:05pm.

Each team failed to net a goal during Friday's night's opening period, and the 2nd period began in a scoreless tie. Twin City outshot Columbus by a 13-7 margin during the 1st period. Josh Labelle gave the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead at 2:53 of Friday's middle period. Labelle's goal was netted even-strength, and was assisted by Dionne Demke and Don Carter Jr. Alexander Jmaeff scored the game-tying goal for the River Dragons with less than six minutes to play in the period. Benjamin Pizzimenti recorded an assist on the scoring play. The final goal of Friday's 2nd period was netted on the powerplay by Ryan Galvin. Ryan Hunter provided the assist on Galvin's scoring play. The Thunderbirds were outshot by an 8-6 margin during the 2nd period, and trailed 2-1 entering Friday's 3rd period.

Jiri Pestuka scored the game-tying goal with under five minutes left to play in the 3rd period. The goal was assisted by Gus Ford and James Farmer. Gus Ford netted a go-ahead goal for Twin City two minutes later. Jan Salak and Jiri Pestuka each collected an assist on the scoring play. Kyle Moore scored a six-on-four goal with ten seconds left in the 3rd period to bring the game to a 3-3 score, and forced an overtime finish. Moore's goal was assisted by Tyler Barrow and Brodie Thornton. Twin City was outshot by a 10-7 margin during the 3rd period, and the game required an overtime finish to determine a winner. Ryan Hunter scored the game-winning goal in the extra period for the River Dragons with less than a minute to play. Tyler Barrow and Josh Colten each collected an assist on the play. The Thunderbirds outshot the River Dragons by a 28-26 margin overall during the contest, but fell by a final score of 4-3.

Boris Babik made 22 saves on 26 shots and dropped the decision in net for Twin City. Tyler Roy collected the win in goal for Columbus in a 25-save-on-28-shot effort.

Ring in the New Year with the Twin City Thunderbirds on Wednesday, December 31st at 8:35pm ET. The Thunderbirds and the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena

BATON ROUGE ZYDECO at BILOXI BREAKERS

Breakers Late Push Falls Short

by Devin Dobek

Biloxi, MS - The blooming rivalry between Baton Rouge and Biloxi was ready to kick off round 5 of 12 Friday night in Mississippi after the holiday week. In a battle of #6 and #7 in the Continental Division, Ed Coffey's 30 save night was just enough to outlast the Breakers late 3rd period push en route to a 3-1 Zydeco win.

In period 1 the scoring began quickly at 4:01 when Tyler Larwood's patience allowed him to maneuver around Borodkin and slide home his 3rd of the season to open the scoring at 1-0. The game was relatively even tempoed through the first half of the frame, but a Brandon Lucchesi minor for tripping opened up the door of opportunity for the visitors. In the dwindling seconds of the man advantage, a cross-ice feed by Ross Bartlett found a wide-open Nick Ketola on the doorstep to tap it home and double the margin at 2-0. Each team had another man advantage chance in the closing moments of the first, but no more goals were clocked. The horn sounded with Baton Rouge carrying their 2-0 margin to the room, leading in shots 8-7.

Period 2 began with a quick minor penalty assessed to Dylan Infantino for hooking. With a chance to push the lead, Baton Rouge couldn't mount much pressure. The two teams continued to exchange chances while simultaneously finishing their checks. Things finally boiled over after a whistle, with some jousting escalating to the ground game before the linesmen stepped in. There were no marks on the scoresheet that counted in the middle chapter, and the Zydeco took their 2 goal margin to the room once more while leading in shots 24-19.

Searching for answers, the Breakers were ready for battle heading into period 3. The by in large chunk of period 3 was a continuation of period 2, featuring back and forth action with both Coffey and Borodkin continuing to one-up each other. Each team took a pair of matching penalties in the final frame, but no one had a powerplay opportunity. Finally at 17:22, a funky yet fortunate Biloxi bounce was fed to Xavier Charbonneau who finished with a backhand up high to end Coffey's shutout bid and make it 2-1. Immediately after, Charlie Pens Jr. took a timeout to talk things over, and see if his group could scratch together an equalizer. With the goalie pulled, Biloxi unleashed a flurry of shots on Ed Coffey who came up with some big time saves to keep the lead intact. At 18:37, Jake Cox buried the empty netter to solidify the Zydeco victory at 3-1. Baton Rouge outshot Biloxi 37-31 in full time.

The Breakers fall to 5-16-1, while the Zydeco climb into 6th place with a record of 4-11-5. The two teams will meet once again tomorrow night at 7:00 inside the Coast Coliseum for the final time until February 7th.

MONROE MOCCASINS at TOPEKA SCARECROWS

Moccasins Constrict Scarecrows to Defensive End, Scarecrows Fall 4-2

by Jon Kliment

Topeka, KS - The Scarecrows returned home for a quick two game stop between trips to Baton Rouge and Biloxi. As the team came home they hoped to find some success against an opponent they have not seen before here in their inaugural season, the Monroe Moccasins.

Monroe was the recipient of an early advantage as Justin Schmit took a penalty in the defensive zone. It didn't take long for Monroe to cash in as Andrew Bellant got a rebound in the slot and put it right over the shoulder of Sammy Bernard for the 1-0 lead.

1:56 into the second period Kyler Matthews let one rip from the point through a crowd of people and found a path past Sammy Bernard that needed review to ensure the goal was called. Late in the period however Topeka's Connor Lind pinched in and took a wrister of his own from the top of the circle to beat Gabe Rosek to bring the Scarecrows crowd to their feet and the team back to within a goal, 2-1. 33 seconds later however Monroe found the back of the net again on a two-on-one as Carlos Fornaris took a pass from Austin Albrecht and buried it to give Monroe back their two goal lead, 3-1.

The Moccasins came into the final period with a two goal lead hungry for more and Yianni Liarakos found one 7:23 into the final frame to make it a 4-1 lead. Topeka came up with a late goal with Bernard pulled as Hugo Koch dished a pass to Cameron Clark who deposited the puck behind Rosek to bring Topeka back to 4-2, but that was as close as they would come.

Bernard stopped 37 of 41 in the loss.

Topeka returns to action tomorrow night here at the Landon Arena.

BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS at INDIANA SENTINELS

Indiana Stays Hot at Home

by Sentinels staff

Columbus, IN - It took extra hockey and a shootout to decide the outcome Friday night in Columbus, Indiana, as the Indiana Sentinels continued their extended home-stand. Coming off a regulation win over Watertown last week, the Sentinels were tested early by the visiting Blue Ridge Bobcats.

Blue Ridge wasted no time opening the scoring, striking just 42 seconds into the contest on a deflected shot from Robin Eriksson. The early lead, however, was short-lived. Indiana responded with two goals before the end of the opening frame, as Ryan Glazer and Nolan Dawson found the back of the net to give the Sentinels a 2-1 edge after one.

The second period turned into a back-and-forth battle, with both teams trading goals throughout the frame. Neither side could gain separation, and the period came to a close with the score knotted at 3-3.

The pace only intensified in the third. A fortunate bounce off the boards found Jonas Leas alone in the slot, and he made no mistake, giving Indiana what appeared to be the go-ahead goal. With regulation winding down, the Sentinels looked poised to secure the win, but Blue Ridge answered late. Off a faceoff, Brandon Reller buried the equalizer to force overtime.

Both teams had quality chances in the extra session, but goaltenders Hunter Virostek for Indiana and Chris Curr for Blue Ridge stood tall, sending the game to a shootout.

The shootout proved decisive, as Ethan Esposito delivered the lone goal of the skills competition, sealing the victory and another home win for the Indiana Sentinels.

Indiana returns to action at home tomorrow night at 7:30 PM for the fifth game of their six-game home-stand.

Sentinels Secure Shootout Win Over Bobcats On Boxing Day

by Brett Wiseman

Columbus, IN - The Blue Ridge Bobcats fell to the red-hot Indiana Sentinels in a shootout by the final score of 5-4 on Boxing Day before a crowd of 737 at the Hamilton Community Ice Arena.

Robin Eriksson started the scoring less than a minute in, sending a slapshot off an Indiana defender in front of the net and behind Chris Curr for his second goal of the season and second in Indiana to put Blue Ridge ahead 1-0. The Sentinels answered with a goal from Ryan Glazer and a power play marker from Nolan Dawson to take a 2-1 lead into the second period.

Nick Stuckless knotted things back up just over 5 minutes into the middle frame, and exactly 5 minutes later Marian Pazitka pushed the Sents back ahead with another man advantage marker to give Indiana a 3-2 lead. Carson Andreoli made sure Blue Ridge wouldn't take a deficit into the locker room for the second intermission, redirecting a wrist shot from Denis Radchenko home to tie things at 3 headed to the third period.

Jonas Leas took advantage of a defensive zone turnover and potted the go-ahead goal early in the third, and Indiana held a 4-3 lead until the final minute of regulation, when Brandon Reller ripped home a wrist shot to tie the game and send it to overtime, ensuring one crucial point for both squads.

After a scoreless extra frame, Curr went 3/3 on saves in the shootout and Ethan Esposito scored the only goal of it to earn the Sents the second point and a 5-4 victory.

Both teams complete their regular season series tomorrow night at 7:30 PM.

PORT HURON PROWLERS at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

TONIGHT'S GAME AGAINST the PORT HURON PROWLERS was CANCELLED

This game has been rescheduled for

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28TH at 1:00 EST

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Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from December 26, 2025


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