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SPHL Knoxville Ice Bears

Ice Bears Earn Point in Intense OT Loss

March 9, 2012 - SPHL (SPHL)
Knoxville Ice Bears News Release


KNOXVILLE, TN (March 8, 2012) - The Knoxville Ice Bears returned to the Civic Coliseum after winning two games in Louisiana last weekend. Ranked second in the SPHL, the Ice Bears hosted the top seeded Augusta RiverHawks. After the Ice Bears tied the game with 1:12 remaining in the third period, the RiverHawks clinched victory with a 3-2 win in overtime.

A penalty filled first period provided the Ice Bears and RiverHawks with 5 on 3 opportunities but the scoring was kicked off with a rare shorthanded goal. Knoxville's Tyler Fletcher earned the Ice Bears an early lead just 1:50 into play. Berkley Scott was serving two minutes for interference when Fletcher notched the Ice Bears' 7th shorthanded goal of the season on a beautiful set up by Emery Olauson and Kevin Swider.

The Ice Bears held the 1-0 lead through the remainder of the period. They also led in shots on goal 14 to 12. Between the two teams, 16 penalty minutes were served in just the first period.

Augusta came out with a renewed focus in the second, but they were still unsuccessful. Ice Bears goalie Kyle Rank held them off through another 12 shots and two power play opportunities to keep the Ice Bears in the lead 1-0.

An exciting third period saw highs and lows for both teams. Augusta finally knotted the game at 1, 3:25 into the third period. John Kearns shot past Rank to tie the game. This was the first goal the RiverHawks have scored in Knoxville since the 7:39 mark of the first period on December 29, 2011. The Ice Bears held August off the board for seven consecutive periods.

Just over 4 minutes remaining in the game, Augusta took their first lead. Drew Baker backhanded the puck past Rank during 4-on-4 play for what looked like the game winning goal.

With just 1:12 left in the game Swider locked the game at 2 to force overtime. The Ice Bears pulled Rank to skate an extra attacker. Swider managed to bang home a rebound off of shots from Olauson and Mark Van Vliet.

Egor Mironov was penalized with five seconds remaining in the third period for goalie interference, giving the Ice Bears a 4-on-3 advantage at the start of overtime. SPHL overtime rules state that after a successful penalty kill, the teams shift back to 3-on-3 after a whistle.

Rank remained solid, turning away all of Augusta's scoring attempts. With just 9.5 seconds remaining, Augusta's Matt Auffrey scored off a broken play to win the game 3-2.

The Ice Bears will return home on Friday, March 16 where they will host the Pensacola Ice Flyers for "Smokies Night" and "Hometown Heroes Night." The Ice Bears will play in their special St. Patrick's Day jerseys that will be auctioned off following the game. The puck drops at 7:30.

Mercedes-Benz 3 Stars of the Game:

1st Star: Matt Auffrey (Augusta)

2nd Star: Peter Skoggard (Augusta)

3rd Star: Kevin Swider (Knoxville)

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