SPHL Mississippi RiverKings

Oilers Triumph 5-3, RiverKings Drop Second Straight at Home

November 21, 2003 - SPHL (SPHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, Miss – The two-time defending CHL champion Memphis RiverKings couldn't recover from a sluggish first two periods, falling 5-3 to the Tulsa Oilers before 4,325 fans on Friday night at the DeSoto Civic Center.

Marion Koleda scored the game-winning goal eleven minutes into the second period, squeezing a shot past goaltender Jean-Francois Racine. The goal gave the Oilers a 4-1 lead at the time.

The RiverKings, coming off their first home loss of the season last night, appeared ready to come charging out of the gate. Two fights dotted the landscape in the game's first two minutes of play, and the RiverKings drew first blood on the scoreboard as Alexander Mathieu notched a power play goal off a feed from captain Don Parsons and defenseman Derek Landmesser.

But for the rest of the period it was all Oilers. Two minutes after Mathieu's goal, the Oilers tied it up on a Wes Scanzano shot that found its way past starting goaltender Shawn Conschafter. Scanzano would rack up three points in the period, including another goal two minutes after his first. Jason Bermingham's power play goal late in the period extended the lead to 3-1 and forced the RiverKings to pull Conschafter in favor of Racine.

Racine, in his first action since an injury forced him onto the IR list in October, stopped 22 of 24 shots on the night. In addition to the game-winner, Racine allowed one more goal, a deflection shot by Bermingham to push the margin to 5-1 with only 37 seconds remaining in the second frame.

The RiverKings would make a valiant comeback effort in the third period, as Mathieu and Parsons would each notch a goal to draw Memphis back within two.

But a game misconduct penalty on center Kahlil Thomas would kill the RiverKings momentum, and goaltender Rod Branch weathered several late shots to secure the victory for the Oilers.

The loss dropped the RiverKings to 12-5-0 on the season. Bossier-Shreveport's overtime loss meant that the RiverKings lead in the Northeast Division was only reduced by one point, to six.

The RiverKings, on only their second two-game losing streak of the campaign, will be in action Saturday evening at 7:05 pm in Louisiana as they take on the Mudbugs in a rematch of Thursday night's action.

All 64 RiverKings games can be heard on Easy 680 AM, as well as worldwide via SportsJuice.com. Select RiverKings games will also be available through CHL TV, a league-wide video streaming enterprise. CHL TV is available at www.CHLTV.com. Information on the RiverKings, including the latest roster moves, press releases, and pictures, is available at www.riverkings.com.

Season, group, and individual game tickets are available. For more information, telephone (662) 342-1755.



SPHL Stories from November 21, 2003


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