IceGators Dominate RiverKings, Take 4th Place in SPHL
March 2, 2016 - SPHL (SPHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release
LAFAYETTE, La. - The Louisiana IceGators performance Wednesday night could be best described as an athletic Crock Pot.
The IceGators needed a fair amount of time to warm up before delivering a hearty feast of offense, serving up five unanswered goals to beat the Mississippi RiverKings 5-1 in the Cajundome. Zac Frischmon led the team with two goals, while Geordie Wudrick contributed a goal and an assist.
The victory--the third-straight for the IceGators--puts the team in fourth place in the SPHL standings. They'll put that position on the line Sunday when they face the Columbus Cottonmouths in the Cajundome at 3:05 p.m.
The IceGators fell flat on their face at the start of the game.
Blake Hietala drew a tripping penalty 29 seconds into the contest to give Mississippi an early power play. Fourteen seconds later, the RiverKings capitalized when Matt Harrington scored with a wrist shot from the low point off assists from Reid Campbell and Cullen Bradshaw.
The RiverKings offense was relentless in the early going, outshooting the IceGators 9-1 in the first six minutes of play and forcing IceGators head coach Drew Omicioli to use the team's only timeout.
(Mississippi) obviously came out hot and had some solid Grade-A shots, and that's why I called the timeout early," Omicioli said. " We were getting bombarded, and we needed to release some of the pressure and settle down. In the end, it wasn't me who did anything. The players listened and went back to work in our systems."
Once they settled down, the IceGators took control of the game.
John Daniels tied the game at the 9:21 mark of the opening frame after taking a Mike Kavanaugh pass at center ice, skating through the Mississippi zone, and shooting the puck past a screened Garrett Sheehan.
Frischmon scored back-to-back goals to put the IceGators ahead to two goals. The first came on a power play with 3:56 left in the first period when a Blake Hietala shot was deflected back to Frischmon, who shot the puck into the net on Sheehan's blind side. The second came 6:38 into the second period after Hietala got behind the RiverKing defense and set up Frischmon at point-blank range.
Jeremy Boyer made the score 4-1 with 5:33 left in the middle frame after knocking a rebound past back-up goalie Spencer McLay. Wudrick extended the lead nearly two minutes later with a shot in traffic.
In all, 11 of the 15 IceGators active for tonight's game recorded a point on the score sheet.
" One of our goals is to have everyone be even or plus in the plus/minus ratio, and we did that tonight," Omicioli said. "When you do that, you win games. We scored some pretty goals and some hard-working goals. You never want to get outshot 32-19 at home, but when you go 50 percent on the power play and have guys bearing down and executing, we'll take it. Frischmon was phenomenal. Wudrick played one of his best games. He was physical and making plays down low."
The IceGators offensive output was low in the third period, but according to Omicioli, that was by design.
"In the third period, our goal wasn't to score, but to hold them under eight shots," Omicioli said. "We accomplished that. We understood how important this win and these two points are, and we got the job done. The defensive core played great again considering how short they are."
The IceGators will relax before getting back to work this weekend.
"Now, we get some time off before playing Sunday," Omicioli said. "After playing two back-to-back three-and-three series, we need it."
SPHL Stories from March 2, 2016
- IceGators Dominate RiverKings, Take 4th Place in SPHL - Louisiana IceGators
- Big Second Period Sinks RiverKings in Louisiana - Mississippi RiverKings
- RiverKings Broadcasters Read to Oak Grove Central - Mississippi RiverKings
- Peoria's Chris Wilson Named Easton Player of the Month - SPHL
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.
