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Ice Bears take round one

December 31, 2004 - SPHL (SPHL)
Winston-Salem Polar Twins News Release


[KNOXVILLE, Tenn.] - David Bagley scored a natural hat trick, giving the Knoxville Ice Bears a lead they would never relinquish as they went on to defeat the Winston-Salem Polar Twins by a score of 5-2 Thursday night in Southern Professional Hockey League Action. With the loss, the Polar Twins drop to 6-18 on the season

Brett Cross made is first appearance for the Polar Twins since injuring his ankle back in early November, getting an assist in his first game back. Frank Burgio also returned the lineup after missing several games with a knee injury.

"Frank and Brett played well for us tonight," said Polar Twins Head Coach Bryan Wells. "It will take both of them a few games to be back at one hundred percent but we are glad to have them back in the lineup."

Bagley netted two goals in the first period, both assisted by Kevin Swider and K.J. Voorhees, to put the Ice Bears (17-7) up 2-0 at the end of one period of play. He completed the hat trick just 55 seconds into the second period for the 3-0 lead. Chris Bodnar then put Knoxville up 4-0 at the 8:52 mark of the second.

The Polar Twins showed signs of life in the second half of the middle frame, getting goals from Geoff Rollins and Chester Gallant. Rollins netted his fourth goal of the season at 10:50 of the second with Cross and Steve Lajoie receiving credit for the assists. Gallant's team-leading 11th goal of the season made it 4-2 at 12:10 of the frame with the assists going to Shaun Aebig and Trevor Karasiewicz.

But for the fifth time this season, the Knoxville Ice Bears were able to down the Polar Twins, getting the extra insurance goal from Curtis Menzul at 15:42 of the third to put the game out of reach for Winston-Salem at 5-2.

Jomar Cruz suffered his seventh loss of the season in net for the Polar Twins, despite turning away 41 shots. Terry Dunbar got the win for the Ice Bears, who have won six of their last seven contests.

"We played a lot better tonight and if some of the bounces had gone in our favor we could have had a 4-4 contest after two periods," said Wells. "We still made a few mistakes that cost us breakaways but all we can concentrate on now is getting ready for tomorrow night."

The Polar Twins and Ice Bears will play the next two games in Winston-Salem on Friday and Saturday night. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, all seats are just $5 and can be purchased from the LJVM Box Office. Group tickets are also available for both games and can be purchased through the Polar Twins office by calling (336) 724-1011.



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