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Mississippi Surge Win 2010-11 SPHL President's Cup Championship

April 15, 2011 - SPHL (SPHL)
Augusta RiverHawks News Release


The Mississippi Surge defeated the Augusta RiverHawks 5-1 Friday night at the James Brown Arena to earn them the 2010-11 President's Cup Championship. The win was the first in the franchise's history, and comes on the heels of a Cup Final loss in 2009-10.

For the RiverHawks it was a difficult end to a proud season that saw the team reach amazing and unexpected heights for an expansion team. The regular season saw a spectacular climb up the standings and a pair of long winning streaks. The RiverHawks also won a number of individual honors including the league's Most Valuable Player (Matt Auffrey) and the Coach of the Year (Brad Ralph). In the end the young RiverHawks had a remarkable run, but ran into a tough veteran team bent on avenging a previous loss.

For the Surge it defenseman Shane Wagner that set the tone for the entire Cup run. It was Wagner's fourth trip to the SPHL Finals, and he had come up empty the previous three tries. He was not going to be denied a fourth time, scoring two huge goals and leading his team to the Championship.

The Surge got on the board first when Wagner jumped into the play, took a pass from Rusty Masters and beat RiverHawks' goaltender Jon Olthuis.

The Surge extended their lead in the second period when forward Jeff Grant forced a RiverHawks turnover and passed it to Mark Versteeg-Lytwyn who ripped the shot past Olthuis.

The RiverHawks continued to keep up the pressure on the Surge to try and narrow the lead, but it was the Surge who would find the back of the net again. An innocent looking point shot took a fortunate bounce straight to Surge defenseman Jack Wolgemuth, who had snuck in front the blue line. Wolgemuth wasted no time in shoveling the puck in, giving his team a three-goal lead.

The RiverHawks would get on the board early in the third period as Branden Kosolofsky would score to narrow the lead to two goals and give the large hometown crowd hope. However, Wagner quickly dashed those hopes with his second goal of the game. Versteeg-Lytwyn would score his second of the night to finalize the scoring.

Surge goaltender Bill Zaniboni made 19 saves, many of them the highlight-reel variety, to keep his team in front.

The RiverHawks thank the fans, corporate sponsors, and all of their supporters for a fantastic and memorable inaugural season. Season tickets are on sale for the 2011-12 season and are available through the RiverHawks' front office at 706-993-2645. Information is available at www.augustariverhawks.com.



SPHL Stories from April 15, 2011


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