Mayhem Show Tremendous Heart in Raucous Road Loss
January 5, 2019 - SPHL (SPHL)
Macon Mayhem News Release
Macon Mayhem center Jimmy Soper
(Macon Mayhem, Credit: Kat Martin)
Falling behind by three goals twice in their final game against Roanoke, the Mayhem never gave up and ultimately fell by a heartbreaking 6-5 result.
In back-to-back games against Roanoke, the Mayhem had severely outshot the Rail Yard Dawgs but still come up short in the final score. Saturday night was an exemplification to an even larger degree, as the Mayhem allowed four goals on just six shots in the opening 20 minutes.
The first was a centering pass from behind the goal line which pinballed off of Ian Sylves' paddle and into the net. The second was a power play strike from Roanoke sniper Zach Nieminen from the right circle. The third was a two-on-one rush in which Jesse Schwartz ripped a wrist shot past Sylves' glove from the left wing. And the fourth came on a net-mouth scramble where Mac Jansen buried the rebound. The lone Macon tally in the first period came off an Alexander redirect on a Taylor Love wrist shot from the right point nine minutes into the contest.
Henry Dill was placed into the game to start the second period. Early on, Derek Sutliffe had an outstanding chance to score on a big rebound that came to him off the pad of Tanner Creel. Sutliffe was denied on what should have been a goal, but he redeemed himself shortly after and buried his tenth goal of the season, bringing the Mayhem to within two.
With 5:29 remaining in the middle stanza, the Mayhem returned to the power play for the third time when Oleksandr Liulchuk was penalized for interference. They were held silent on the man-advantage for the tenth time on the weekend, and Roanoke used the ensuing momentum to their advantage. Chasing down a loose puck slowly creeping towards Dill, Eric Witzel just beat out the Macon net-minder in a footrace and roofed the puck into the net.
Trailing 5-2 at the start of the third, the Mayhem frantically tried to claw themselves back into the game. Sutliffe had a great opportunity for his second goal of the game, but Creel denied him with a splits save in goal.
With 8:40 remaining in regulation, Seth Ronsberg motored down the right wing and ripped a lazer past Creel from a severe angle. The goal was Ronsberg's second in as many games, both of which came from a tough angle on the right side of the ice.
Three minutes remained when the Mayhem drew to within a goal, as Justin Levac centered a pass for Michael Bunn to jam past Creel for his first goal with the Mayhem. Despite a valiant comeback attempt, Schwartz notched an empty-net goal at the end. Caleb Cameron jammed a late goal in with 41 seconds left on the clock, but it was too little, too late.
Creel earned his seventh win of the season, stopping 32 of 37 Macon shot attempts. Sylves stopped 3 of 7, and Dill denied 12 of 13 in relief, being charged with the defeat. The Mayhem return to the Macon Centreplex next weekend to host the Birmingham Bulls on Friday, January 11th on Video Game/Arcade Night presented by The Creek FM & Reboot. Puck drops at 7:35 pm ET.
Images from this story
 Macon Mayhem center Jimmy Soper (Kat Martin) |
SPHL Stories from January 5, 2019
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- Dawgs Hang On, Beat Mayhem, 6-5 - Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs
- Mayhem Show Tremendous Heart in Raucous Road Loss - Macon Mayhem
- A Note from Coach Ian Moran of the Evansville ThunderBolts - Evansville Thunderbolts
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