Ice Bears Rally in 3rd, Beat Dawgs in OT
October 30, 2021 - SPHL (SPHL)
Knoxville Ice Bears News Release
Alex Pommerville of the Knoxville Ice Bears
(Knoxville Ice Bears)
Alex Pommerville scored the game-winning goal in overtime and the Knoxville Ice Bears defeated the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs 3-2 Saturday night at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
Knoxville rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to force overtime. It's the second straight overtime win for the Ice Bears (3-0-0). The Rail Yard Dawgs (0-2-2) lost in a shootout Friday night at Birmingham.
Pommerville gave Knoxville its first lead of the night when Carter Cowlthorp stole the puck in the Knoxville zone to create a two-on-one. Cowlthorp skated into the zone and fed a pass from the right circle to Pommerville across the slot. Pommerville's wrist shot beat the blocker of Austyn Roudebush for his first career SPHL goal.
Stefan Brucato scored twice in the third period to help tie the game for the Ice Bears. He tapped in a rebound after a shot from the perimeter by J.B. Baker was stopped by Roudebush's pad at 9:35. Brucato then made it 2-2 at 14:44 on the power play when he split two defenders in the zone and followed up his own shot with another rebound for his third goal of the season.
Roanoke opened the scoring when Mac Jansen fed the puck from the right circle in front of the crease and Logan Fredericks redirected it over Jimmy Poreda to give the Rail Yard Dawgs an early 1-0 lead at 1:37 of the first.
Nick Ford doubled the lead for Roanoke when Jeff Jones dropped him the puck from the right dot to the top of the right circle. Ford's wrist shot beat Poreda top shelf at 2:49 to make it 2-0 heading into the intermission.
Knoxville nearly cut the deficit in half late in the first, but a shot from in front of the crease glanced off Roudebush's stick, hit the crossbar and stayed out of the net.
The Ice Bears nearly had their first goal of the night at 6:43 of the first when Stefan Brucato was tripped on a shorthanded breakaway and given a penalty shot. Brucato skated in towards the right of the crease and lifted the puck over Roudebush's glove, but hit the left post.
Knoxville failed to convert on four power play chances in the second period, including a 5-on-3. The Ice Bears kept the deficit at two after 40 minutes by killing off three Roanoke power play opportunities and Poreda stopping two breakaways. Poreda finished with 24 saves for the Ice Bears. Roudebush made 26 stops for Roanoke.
Knoxville remains home to host Huntsville on Sunday at 3 o'clock. Roanoke is off until next Saturday when it welcomes Macon.
Images from this story
 Alex Pommerville of the Knoxville Ice Bears |
SPHL Stories from October 30, 2021
- Rivermen Suffer First Loss, 3-1 to Evansville - Peoria Rivermen
- Ice Bears Rally in 3rd, Beat Dawgs in OT - Knoxville Ice Bears
- Taylor-Made Win Gives Marksmen Fourth Straight Victory - Fayetteville Marksmen
- Thunderbolts Outwork, Defeat Rivermen 3-1 - Evansville Thunderbolts
- Mayhem Haunted by Missed Opportunities in Fayetteville - Macon Mayhem
- Dawgs Stunned Late in 3-2 OT Loss at Knoxville - Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs
- Froese's Late Tally, Durante's Goaltending Fend off Macon - Fayetteville Marksmen
- Dawgs Dropped 7-6 in Shootout Loss to Birmingham After Crazy Comeback - Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs
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