Ice Bears to Regroup After Loss
Published on March 28, 2012 under SPHL (SPHL)
Knoxville Ice Bears News Release
KNOXVILLE, TN (March 28, 2012) - The Ice Bears welcomed the Mississippi RiverKings to the Coliseum tonight for their first of the best of three playoff series. The Ice Bears showed flashes of a championship team but it wasn't enough to overcome two disallowed goals and ultimately fell 6-3 to the RiverKings.
The Ice Bears pressured the RiverKings from the start, but it was Mississippi who scored the first goal taking the lead 3:46 into the first period. Just under 4 minutes later, the Ice Bears scored what they thought was a tying goal, but it was disallowed by the referee because he lost sight of the puck.
With 8:31 left the Ice Bears appeared to have tie at 1 again. The puck set in front of Mississippi goalie David Wilson's right leg, and Olauson poked it in. The ref disallowed a second goal, claiming the whistle blew before the puck crossed the goal line.
The RiverKings scored their second goal giving them a 2-0 advantage. Under 2 minutes later, the Ice Bears scored at 15:04 to officially join the scoreboard. Kevin Swider passed the puck to Emery Olauson ripped a shot past the goalie's glove.
Mississippi's Jeff Topilko ended the period scoring his second goal of the game and leading 3-1 at first intermission. The Ice Bears came back strong in the second period. When Topilko was penalized 2 minutes for goaltender interference, the Ice Bears capitalized on the power play. Olauson scored his second goal of the game with assists from Swider and Mark Van Vliet 49 seconds into the middle frame.
At the 1:57, the Ice Bears were once again on the power play. David Segal took advantage of the power play as he caught the puck right in front of the net and shot it in to tie the game at 3. Swider and Ricky Helmbrecht were credited with assists.
The RiverKings answered the Ice Bears' two goals with two of their own, lifting them to a 5-3 lead to end the second period. After the RiverKings fifth goal, Knoxville's Matt Hache relieved Kyle Rank in goal to finish out the game.
Despite a great effort, Knoxville couldn't penetrate the defensive shell put up by Mississippi. The Ice Bears pulled Hache to skate an extra attacker, but 7 seconds after he left the net Mississippi's Justin MacDonald took a fortuitous bounce off the boards and down the ice into the empty net for the final 6-3 score.
The Ice Bears and RiverKings will rematch Friday, March 30 in Mississippi. Join Knoxville Ice Bears fans at Buffalo Wild Wings at Turkey Creek to watch the game broadcast live. Puck drops at 8 p.m. If the Ice Bears win, the two teams will return to Knoxville on Sunday at 5 pm for a winner take all game to move into the semi-finals.
Mercedes-Benz 3 Stars of the game:
1st Star: Justin Topilko (Mississippi)
2nd Star: Darrell Stoddard (Mississippi)
3rd Star: Emery Olauson (Knoxville)
SPHL Stories from March 28, 2012
- Ice Bears to Regroup After Loss - Knoxville Ice Bears
- Auffrey, Graham's Heroics Earn RiverHawks Game One - Augusta RiverHawks
- RiverKings and Lifeblood Team up to Save Lives One Pint of Blood at a Time - Mississippi RiverKings
- Ice Flyers' Chong and Wilson Named SPHL All Stars - Pensacola Ice Flyers
- Ice Bears' Mark Van Vliet Wins Back-To-Back Defenseman of the Year - Knoxville Ice Bears
- Knoxville's Mark Van Vliet Named SBK Defenseman of the Year - SPHL
- Cottonmouths' Sam Bowles Named SBK Player of the Week - SPHL
- Cottonmouths Week in Review - Columbus Cottonmouths
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
