Jordan Ernst Leads Rivermen to 5-4 Game One Overtime Victory
April 11, 2025 - SPHL (SPHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
PEORIA, IL - In a roller coaster of a playoff game, Jordan Ernst began and ended the Rivermen's comeback effort on Thursday night as the Rivermen overcame a 3-0 second-period deficit to defeat the Quad City Storm 5-4 in overtime in Game One of their first-round series at Carver Arena.
Quad City came out fast with two goals in the first ten minutes of the first period of play. Down 2-0, the Rivermen started gaining momentum late in the period as they embarked on back-to-back power plays. Despite some great chances, they could not find a key power-play goal in the first period and trailed 2-0 entering the second.
The Storm extended their lead to 3-0 just seven minutes into the second period, and for a time it looked like Quad City would run away with the contest. But the Rivermen took advantage of a four-on-four situation. Michael Ferrandino put a drop pass to Jordan Ernst as he stepped into the high slot and rifled a shot low over Moran's pad to put the Rivermen on the board. Ernst's goal was the spark Peoria needed as they sparked a rally that continued for the period as Josh Martin put home his first of two goals off a point shot to pull the Rivermen within one. Martin was also the beneficiary of a fortunate hop as he fired a shot in the high slot that deflected off the end glass and then off the leg of Quad City goaltender Brent Moran and into the back of the net. Peoria's three unanswered goals turned the complexion of the game entirely around and both teams faced a tie game going into the third.
The Rivermen were able to take their first lead of the game as Alec Baer received a pass while on the power play from Griffen Fox. Baer rifled a shot into the back of the net to put the Rivermen up 4-3 early in the third period. It looked for a while that Peoria would hold their lead as the Storm struggled to get a cohesive attack underway. Then, in the waning seconds as the Storm were on the power play, a cross-ice feed to Leif Mattson connected, and the second overall scorer in the SPHL rifled a one-timed shot home with one-tenth of the second to go to force the game into overtime.
It only took less than five minutes as Jordan Ernst skated over the line of the left-wing side and cut into the slot. Ernst then rifled a high-rising wrist shot that beat Moran glove-side to win the game in overtime. Ernst joins names like JM Piotrowski and Cayden Cahill to find overtime winners in the playoffs. Ernst and the Rivermen will head to Moline, Illinois, with a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Face-off is set for 7:10 pm.
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