IceGators Beat RiverKings in Another Shootout
January 23, 2016 - SPHL (SPHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release
SOUTHAVEN, Miss.--The Louisiana IceGators and the Mississippi RiverKings have a habit of keeping their fans in suspense.
For the third time in their last four meetings, the IceGators and the RiverKings played each other to a shootout. For the second time in those three shootouts, the IceGators walked away victorious, taking a 4-3 decision over the RiverKings Saturday night in the Landers Center and avenging a heartbreaking loss from 24 hours earlier. Jake Hauswirth led the Louisiana with two goals.
The IceGators continue their extended road trip next weekend when they head to Alabama to play the Huntsville Havoc. The first game of the two game series is set for Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
"This is a solid road victory," IceGators head coach Drew Omicioli said. "Unfortunately, we gave (Mississippi) seven power plays, and they capitalized on two of them. Other than that, we dominated. Forty-one of our 44 shots came when we were either even strength or short-handed, which is impressive."
Charles Mosey drew first blood in the second period after Brett Peppler went to the penalty box on a slashing call. Mosey went top shelf off feeds from Linden Bahm and Troy Polino at the 5:03 mark of the middle frame to give Mississippi a 1-0 lead.
Hauswirth evened the score three-and-a-half minutes later, scoring off assists from Alex Hudson and Dan Cornell.
The IceGators special teams stepped up later in the period. Geordie Wudrick put Louisiana ahead with an unassisted short-handed goal with 56 seconds left in the frame.
Twenty-three seconds later, Bahm tied the score with a power play goal off assists from Mosey and Higgins.
The IceGators regained the lead 94 seconds into the third period with their second short-handed goal of the night. Hauswirth put Louisiana ahead 3-2 off another Hudson assist.
Mississippi would not quit. Ryan Marcuz tied the score at 3-3 off assists from Sam Higgins and Mark Pustin with 4:20 remaining in regulation.
IceGator goalie Brad Barone was stellar in the shootout, denying all four RiverKings shooters. Jeremy Boyer and Wudrick scored for Louisiana in the tiebreaker.
Omicioli says his team needed this win.
"We gave up two big points last night, so it was important for us to grab this one," Omicioli said. "We should have walked away with four points, but we just have to continue to get better and figure out ways to close out games in regulation. Now, it's time to move on and focus on Huntsville."
SPHL Stories from January 23, 2016
- IceGators Beat RiverKings in Another Shootout - Louisiana IceGators
- Road Warriors - Macon Mayhem
- RiverKings Erase Late Deficit, Fall in Shootout - Mississippi RiverKings
- Ice Flyers Can't Solve Bartus, Fall 5-1 to Macon - Pensacola Ice Flyers
- Rivermen Set Record with 13th Straight Win Saturday - Peoria Rivermen
- Peoria Sets SPHL Records for Consecutive Wins, Road Wins - SPHL
- Rivermen Game Notes at Columbus - Peoria Rivermen
- It's Their Heritage - Macon Mayhem
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