IceGators Win in 2OT; Take Series Lead
April 2, 2015 - SPHL (SPHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release
LAFAYETTE, La.--The Louisiana IceGators took all night--literally--to finish their playoff opener against the Peoria Rivermen.
The wait, though, was worth it for the team and the fans.
Stephen Buco scored on a rebound from point blank range to give the Louisiana IceGators a 3-2 double overtime victory. The goal came at the 18:57 of the fifth period--four hours and 17 minutes after the game began. Kirk Byczynski and Jake Hauswirth, who launched the initial shots on the attack, assisted on the play.
The IceGators are now one game away from advancing to the SPHL semifinals. The second game of the best-of-three series will take place Friday at 7:05 p.m. at the Peoria Civic Center.
"This was a great effort from both teams," said IceGators head coach Drew Omicioli. "It's one of those games where I'm so proud of our guys for the way they battled, but you also have to give credit to Peoria because they fought and stayed in the game all the way to the end. We had some mental errors that allowed them to tie the game, and we have to continue to get better at eliminating those errors.
"What can you say about (goalie) Scott Diebold? He's a man on a mission. He played spectacularly tonight and he gave us a chance to win the game. It's crazy because he's effortless when he makes those saves. (Forward) Stephen Buco didn't play much in regulation, but he didn't let that get him down. He went in and earned a regular shift come Friday--not only because of his goal, but also because of the offensive threat he was every time he hit the ice."
The Rivermen opened the scoring when Ben Oskroba took a cross-ice pass from Alec Hagaman and went top shelf four minutes into the second period.
The IceGators jumped ahead later in the period, scoring two unanswered goals to close the frame.
The first came from Jordan Ciccarello after taking a pass from the left point from Jeremy Boyer. Brian Berger also assisted on the play.
The second score came in traffic as Jake Hauswirth tipped in a rebound through the five-hole. Dan Cornell and Ben Rubin assisted on the play.
Peoria tied the game in the third period when Garrett Vermeersch went coast-to-coast and rifled a shot from the right point at the 3:40 mark of the frame.
The mood in the Cajundome took an even more serious tone late in the second period when Rivermen forward Ryan Raven, who returned to the SPHL only 10 games ago after missing a year-and-a-half because of ankle surgery, collapsed to the ice after falling awkwardly into the boards. Raven remained on the ice for more than 10 minutes while EMTs and trainers checked him. He was transported to an area hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken back.
"On behalf of the organization, I want to send our thoughts and prayers out to Ryan," Omicioli said. "We're all praying for his speedy recovery."
Omicioli says as much as he's happy to get the win, he's still disappointed in the effort that some of his players gave during the nearly 89 minutes of play.
"I have to get more out of the guys," Omicioli said. "Some guys didn't bring 100 percent tonight, especially during regulation. A big part of that was because they allowed Peoria to frustrate them. We have to look past the nonsense of running over our goaltender and worry about winning hockey games. We need to wrap this up on Friday."
SPHL Stories from April 2, 2015
- Rivermen Goalie Rank Repeats on All-SPHL 1st Team - Peoria Rivermen
- Ice Flyers Lose Late Lead and Fall in Double OT to RiverKings 3-2 - Pensacola Ice Flyers
- Whitehead, Randazzo and Di Salvo Awarded by SPHL - Mississippi RiverKings
- SPHL Announces First Team Selections - SPHL
- All-SPHL Second Team Announced - SPHL
- Rivermen Post-Game Notes - Peoria Rivermen
- Paulazzo Scores Winner as RiverKings Win Game 1 - Mississippi RiverKings
- IceGators Win in 2OT; Take Series Lead - Louisiana IceGators
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