Ice Bears Topple Bobcats for Third Straight Win
January 22, 2022 - SPHL (SPHL)
Knoxville Ice Bears News Release
Five different players scored for Knoxville, Evan Moyse made 29 saves and the Ice Bears defeated the Vermilion County Bobcats 5-1 Saturday night at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
The Ice Bears (24-3-3) are now 11-0-1 over their current 12-game point streak. Vermilion County (3-20-3) dropped its seventh straight.
Knoxville struck first with a power play goal at 2:12 of the opening frame. Brady Fleurent sent the puck from circle-to-circle in the zone to Razmuz Waxin-Engback. Waxin-Engback fed it across the crease to Dino Balsamo on the left side and Balsamo swept in and put the puck behind Ben Churchfield for his 14th goal of the year.
Joey Strada extended Knoxville's lead on the odd man rush when he took the puck up the right side, skated into the right circle and ripped a wrist shot top shelf at 14:10.
Anthony McVeigh extended the advantage when Strada found him in the slot to finish off a 2-on-1 at 3:47 of the second. J.B. Baker made a stretch pass to Strada through the neutral zone. Strada spun away from a defenseman and carried the puck through the left circle before finding McVeigh in the slot.
Sam Turner made it 4-0 with a blast from the right point that made its way through traffic into the net. Knoxville worked the puck around the perimeter on the power play and got the puck to Turner in space, who pinpointed a shot past Churchfield's blocker for his sixth goal of the season.
Churchfield was benched after the second period for Joe Sheppard, who stopped 11 of 12 shots. Churchfield finished with 29 saves.
Christian Faggas scored on a slap shot from the blue line to spoil the shutout with 1:35 remaining. Jared Nash scored on an odd man rush from the right circle to cap off the scoring for Knoxville with 15 seconds left.
The two teams will meet again next Friday in Danville when the Ice Bears begin a three-game road trip to Illinois.
• Discuss this story on the SPHL message board...
SPHL Stories from January 22, 2022
- Trio of Shorthanded Goals Power Thunderbolts Past Quad City - Evansville Thunderbolts
- Mayhem Bombarded by Ice Flyers - Macon Mayhem
- Dawgs Finish off Havoc in 5-3 Road Win - Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs
- Havoc Fall to Roanoke - Huntsville Havoc
- Ice Bears Topple Bobcats for Third Straight Win - Knoxville Ice Bears
- Nippard Scores Twice, Bulls Down the Mayhem - Birmingham Bulls
- Bobcats Find Scoring Touch Take One Point in OT Loss to Thunderbolts - Vermilion County Bobcats
- Havoc Gameday: Youth Jersey Giveaway Tonight - Huntsville Havoc
- Marksmen Slip Late vs. Ice Bears - Fayetteville Marksmen
- SPHL Announces Suspension - SPHL
- Rail Yard Dawgs Announce Paramount Network Yellowstone Night on March 26 - Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs
- Corona, Rivermen Victorious in OT 3-2 - Peoria Rivermen
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.
Other Recent Knoxville Ice Bears Stories
- Ice Bears Announce 13-Player Protected List
- Incredible Run Ends for Knoxville in President's Cup Finals
- Ice Bears Drop Heartbreaker in Game One of Finals
- Ice Bears Advance to Finals with 4-2 Win over Bulls
- Not Done Yet: Ice Bears Force Game Three with 5-1 Win
