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SPHL Macon Mayhem

Mayhem Dominate Ice Bears, Remain in Contention for Fourth Seed

March 30, 2019 - SPHL (SPHL)
Macon Mayhem News Release


Macon Mayhem celebrate a goal against the Knoxville Ice Bears
Macon Mayhem celebrate a goal against the Knoxville Ice Bears
(Macon Mayhem, Credit: Sarah Hobday)

Playing in a must-win game to keep their hopes of home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs alive, the Mayhem offense exploded for six goals to snap a 10-game road skid with a commanding 6-2 victory.

Both of the former Ice Bears wasted no time making their presence known, as Marcus Ortiz and Danny Cesarz each got involved in the first five minutes of play. Ortiz registered Macon's first shot on goal, a high-percentage chance on a wrist shot from the right circle, but he was denied by Cody Porter. Danny Cesarz was penalized for interference shortly after. The Mayhem killed off the ensuing Knoxville power play.

Kevin Entmaa made his first big save of the game on a follow-up shot from Roberts Locans, which the Macon net-minder fought off with his blocker. Penalties piled up for the Mayhem, and eventually, the penalty kill gave in. Chandler Madry whacked a rebound past Entmaa and got the Ice Bears on the board 16:36 into the contest. The Mayhem entered the first intermission trailing 1-0 on a 4-on-3 disadvantage.

Macon held off Knoxville's power play to start period two, and promptly leveled the score. John Siemer drove down the slot and laid a drop pass onto the tape for Jake Trask. Trask buried his league-leading 26th goal of the season just 55 seconds into the middle frame, knotting the score up 1-1. Several power play opportunities would present themselves for the Mayhem, but a number of close missed chances allowed the Ice Bears to escape unscathed.

With just under three minutes remaining in the second period, Derek Sutliffe tapped his stick at the left circle calling for a pass. He received the puck from the right point and tapped it past Porter to give Macon its first lead of the game. Just 51 seconds later, Knoxville had a response, as Mitchell Mueller was credited with his first goal with the organization after some review. In the final seconds of the period, however, Cesarz floated an outlet pass into the neutral zone, where Caleb Cameron collected it and raced into the Ice Bears' zone on an uncontested breakaway. He tucked his shot past Porter to give Macon a 3-2 advantage heading into the final 20 minutes.

The Mayhem seized control in the third period. 9:24 in, Shawn Lynch flung the puck at the net from the left circle. It pinballed around near the crease and was ultimately smacked past Porter out of mid-air by Cesarz. Stathis Soumelidis added another insurance goal two and a half minutes later to give the Mayhem a 5-2 lead, which was built upon by Sutliffe to give the Mayhem a four-goal advantage. They would hold onto this lead for the rest of the game.

Entmaa had another sensational night in net, denying 40 of Knoxville's 42 shots on goal. Porter was handed his fourth loss of the season, stopping 28 of 34. The Mayhem will head to Peoria next Friday, April 5th to kick off their final series of the regular season. Puck drops at 8:15 pm EST.

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Images from this story

Macon Mayhem celebrate a goal against the Knoxville Ice Bears
Macon Mayhem celebrate a goal against the Knoxville Ice Bears
(Sarah Hobday)		   



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