IceGators Complete Weekend Sweep of Knoxville

December 8, 2012 - SPHL (SPHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


Lafayette, Louisiana--For the second night in a row, the Louisiana IceGators scored four consecutive goals en route to a 4-2 victory over the Knoxville IceBears. The IceGators (10-4-1) dominated the second period, scoring three goals on eleven shots while holding the IceBears to only seven shots on goal. Louisiana also improved upon its league-best penalty kill percentage by shutting down all five of Knoxville's powerplay opportunities.

The IceGators will hit the road next weekend for a two-game road slate. The first game will take place in Pensacola Friday night when the IceGators face the IceFlyers. On Saturday, the IceGators travel to Georgia to take on the Columbus Cottonmouths.

"I thought it was another solid, consistent 60-minute effort," said IceGators Head Coach Kevin Kaminski. "We were down early, but we bounced back and picked up momentum. In the second, we had some good entries. We created havoc crashing the net, and the guys with the puck made some great plays."

Mark Van Vliet gave Knoxville that early lead 10:37 into the first period. He scored in traffic off of assists from Eric Satim and John Higgins. Fifty seconds later, Matt Robertson tied the score off of feeds from Denny Kearney and Kirk Byczynski. Goals from Jordan Foreman and Kearney gave Louisiana a 3-1 lead midway through the second period. Shawn McNeil capped off the frame with a highlight-reel goal. McNeil skated coast-to-coast and through several defenders before launching a wrist shot from the slot and above Knoxville goalie Connor Toomey's shoulder to give the IceGators a 4-1 lead heading into the second intermission. The IceBears' Jeremy Klaver cut the lead to two with a goal early in the third period. Riley Gill stopped the other 10 IceBear shots in the period.

"McNeil's goal was absolutely phenomenal," remarked Kaminski. "It all started with a great block from (Matt) Miller. McNeil had great patience, hung on, and went upstairs after the goalie went down." Kaminski found two areas he thinks his team needs to improve upon, but overall he is pleased with the team's progress thus far. "We have to work on is communication and stronger puck decisions," he said. "I feel our game has improved as guys have continued to buy into the system. We just have to continue to work on what makes us a better team."



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