Ice Bears Battle to Game Two Win to Tie Semifinal Series
SPHL Knoxville Ice Bears

Ice Bears Battle to Game Two Win to Tie Semifinal Series

Published on April 18, 2026 under SPHL (SPHL)
Knoxville Ice Bears News Release


Eric Olson scored early in the third period to put Knoxville ahead for good, Stephen Mundinger made 35 saves and the Knoxville Ice Bears held on to beat the Peoria Rivermen 3-1 at the Peoria Civic Center Saturday night and tie the President's Cup semifinal series at one game apiece.

Games three and four of the best-of-five series are in Knoxville Thursday and Friday night.

Olson gave Knoxville its second lead of the night when Jared Westcott collected the puck up the middle of the zone, moved towards his right before dropping a pass back to Olson, who snapped a shot past Nick Latinovich at 1:11 of the third.

Derek Osik scored on the empty net with just over a minute remaining to seal the game for Knoxville.

Knoxville struck first with Blake Tosto's second goal of the postseason at 7:08 of the opening period. Westcott blocked a clearing attempt on the left wall and took the puck through the bottom of the left circle. He slipped a pass cross crease to Tosto, who buried it above Latinovich.

Mundinger weathered a barrage from the Rivermen for most of the first 20 minutes. He held onto a screened attempt from Garrett Devine from the left wing and stopped Alec Baer's one-timer with the pad. When a loose puck skidded towards the zone, Mundinger came out of his crease and the puck deflected away from him to the left wing. Michael McChesney picked up the puck and fired on the open net, but Kyle Soper stood in the shooting lane and blocked the shot.

Baer scored on a rebound at 17:55 to tie the game at the break.

Neither team could inch forward in the second period despite chances on both sides. Mundinger held onto Mike Gelatt's redirect from the slot and helped Knoxville kill off a pair of second period penalty kills. Latinovich stopped Brendan Dowler's look from the high slot and knocked away Westcott's attempt with the pad. Latinovich finished with 24 saves.

After Knoxville retook the lead, Mundinger shut things down the rest of the way to preserve the win. He stopped Baer from the bottom of the right circle and later slid to his left to block Jordan Ernst's one-timer from the right side of the crease.

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