Ice Bears Fall in OT to Bulls

January 1, 2023 - SPHL (SPHL)
Knoxville Ice Bears News Release

Knoxville Ice Bears' Kyler Matthews In Action
(Knoxville Ice Bears)

Jake Pappalardo scored 43 seconds into overtime and the Knoxville Ice Bears fell to the Birmingham Bulls 3-2 Sunday night at the Civic Coliseum.

Bailey MacBurnie made 25 stops for Knoxville. Kyler Matthews scored both Ice Bear goals.

Pappalardo scored from the left circle on the power play when Stefan Brucato slipped him the puck from the front of the crease and Pappalardo beat MacBurnie over his blocker.

Knoxville scored first when Matthews beat Austin Lotz down low with a wrist shot from the high slot. Matthews carried the puck through the neutral zone, crossed the blue line and put the puck between Lotz' pads for his fourth goal of the year at 11:34.

Birmingham tied the game at 16:06 when Brucato redirected a shot from the perimeter past MacBurnie.

Knoxville nearly took the lead early in the second, but Nick Pryce hit the post from the slot after Bailey Conger slipped him the puck from the right end line.

Tensions arose midway through the second as multiple fights broke out during a media timeout. Three players from each team received fighting majors with additional penalties being assessed as well. Conger and Sacha Roy were given game misconducts for continuing their altercations. Mackenzie Dwyer and Jonathan Pace received the same punishment for Birmingham.

Matthews gave Knoxville the lead with a power play goal from the top of the left circle at 1:15 of the third. The Ice Bears gave up the lead just over a minute later when Mike Davis scored on a rebound to make it 2-2.

The Ice Bears will head to Huntsville on Friday for a home-and-home weekend against the Havoc. Birmingham returns home to welcome Evansville Thursday night.

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Knoxville Ice Bears' Kyler Matthews In Action

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