AHL Peoria Rivermen

Peoria Remains Undefeated Against San Antonio

Published on March 31, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


San Antonio, TX - On Friday evening at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, the Peoria Rivermen defeated the San Antonio Rampage by the score of 2-1. The close victory extended what has become an impressive undefeated streak of nine games for the Rivermen against the Rampage this season.

The Rivermen and the Rampage have tangled on nine occasions so far this season, and Peoria has yet to lose outright to San Antonio, posting a record of 8-0-0-1 in those nine previous match-ups between the two clubs. The 10-game 2005-06 Rivermen-Rampage regular season series opened with two games in the "Alamo City" back on October 28 and 29, 2005, that the Rivermen won handily by scores of 5-1 and 6-0, respectively. The two teams then squared off in Peoria for the first time on November 19, and although the final score of 4-3 was much closer than it had been in the first two games of the series, the Rivermen beat the Rampage for a third straight time. The new year brought two more dates in the season series between these two West Division foes down in Texas, as the Peoria side prevailed 4-3 in a shootout on January 17 and 5-1 on January 20. After winning a close 3-2 decision over San Antonio on February 17, the Rivermen had their lone slip-up of the season so far against the Rampage just four days later, when the Rivermen lost 4-3 in a shootout. The Peoria skaters, however, reasserted their dominance of San Antonio with a 3-0 shutout on March 24. Then, on Friday night in San Antonio, the Rivermen won 2-1 to remain undefeated in nine games thus far this season versus the Rampage and to finish 5-0-0-0 in games played at the AT&T Center. The 2005-06 Rivermen-Rampage regular season series will conclude on Tuesday, April 11, at Carver Arena.

With their win on Friday evening, the Rivermen improved their overall record to 42-23-3-4, and their record on the road now stands at 19-12-3-2. The Rampage, on the other hand, dropped to 21-46-2-4 on the year and to 12-21-2-1 at home.

Just shy of two minutes into the contest, the Rivermen went out front 1-0 on the Rampage. After the puck was batted up into the air in the San Antonio slot, Peoria winger Cam Keith whacked it on a short-hop. As the puck knuckled toward the Rampage goal, Rivermen left wing D. J. King got his stick on it and changed the direction of the rubber disc enough to get it past goalie Scott Stirling for King's fifth score of the season.

Midway through the opening frame, the Rampage evened things up at 1-1. On a shot from the right point in the Peoria zone by San Antonio defenseman Brad Tiley, the puck hit someone in front, bounced into the slot, and then was sent toward the right circle. Rampage center Mike Bishai finally corralled the puck at the top right corner of the crease and swiped it by Rivermen goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu at the 9:31 mark of the first for Bishai's 12th tally of 2005-06.

The Rivermen re-took the lead at 2-1 in the second period. Collecting the puck behind the San Antonio cage, Peoria center Mike Zigomanis paused a moment before being chased out around the left post by a Rampage defender. As he approached the bottom of the left circle, Zigomanis wheeled and sent in a shot that stayed on the ice and slipped through the pads of Stirling at the 10:56 mark of the middle session to give the Rivermen centerman 10 goals on the season.

The Rivermen will now continue their three-game jaunt through Texas this weekend with a game against the Houston Aeros on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (CST) at the Toyota Center.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from March 31, 2006


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