Mayhem Edged in High-Scoring Affair in Huntsville
January 26, 2019 - SPHL (SPHL)
Macon Mayhem News Release
Macon Mayhem center John Siemer vs. the Huntsville Havoc
(Macon Mayhem)
HUNTSVILLE, AL - After snapping Huntsville's winning streak just hours prior, the Mayhem had their own winning streak ended by the Havoc on Saturday afternoon as they fell 5-4 in Huntsville.
A back-and-forth start was on hand on Saturday afternoon, as the Mayhem jumped out to 2-0 lead in the first 8:30 of play. On an early Macon power play, Jarret Kup fed a diagonal pass over to Justin Levac on the right side, who gave an extra pass to Derek Sutliffe beside the net. Sutliffe tapped home his 14th goal of the season to give the Mayhem a 1-0 lead. Shortly afterward, Alexander Taulien intercepted a Huntsville clearing attempt and rifled a wrist shot past Max Milosek to score his seventh goal in his last four games.
Huntsville had an answer. After striking the post four times, they finally converted 17:09 into the game. Christian Powers was sent a centering pass from the corner by Rob Darrar and tucked the puck past Ian Sylves to cut the deficit in half. Just a minute and a half later, on a 5-on-3 power play, Nolan Kaiser ripped a one-timer past Sylves from above the right circle in his first game back from suspension. The strike tied the score 2-2 heading into the first intermission.
Controversy ensued 4:34 into the second period, when Taulien was brought down by a Huntsville defender. The two of them slid into Milosek, bumping him out of position. When this happened, Kup fired the puck past Milosek to regain Macon's lead. Because it was Huntsville's defender who initiated the contact with Milosek, the goal stood.
Rob Darrar buried a power play goal with a one-timer from the right circle to tie the game at three. Darrar redeemed himself after being robbed multiple times from a similar shot attempt in Macon the day prior. Moments later, Sylves made an enormous glove save on a Powers breakaway to keep the game tied.
Early in the third period, Seth Ronsberg redirected a point shot taken by Kup to put the Mayhem back in front. However, Huntsville never quit and tied the game back up for a third time. Just 1:02 after Ronsberg's goal, Derek Perl circled behind the Macon net and flung a shot past Sylves on the wraparound, leveling the score 4-4. Then, exactly halfway through the third period, Powers rushed down the right side and sniped a shot inside the near post, beating Sylves and giving the Havoc their first lead of the game.
The Mayhem came close to tying the game when Kristaps Bazevics rung a shot off the crossbar, but puck luck was not on their side. A late penalty called against Taulien killed any chance the Mayhem had at a comeback, and they fell by a 5-4 final.
Sylves' winning streak was ended at three, as he stopped 42 of Huntsville's 47 shots on goal. Milosek earned his 11th victory of the season, stopping 19 of Macon's 23 attempts. The Mayhem will return home to host the Peoria Rivermen in a three-game home stand next Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
Images from this story
 Macon Mayhem center John Siemer vs. the Huntsville Havoc |
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