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RiverHawks Edged by Columbus in Overtime

December 31, 2011 - SPHL (SPHL)
Augusta RiverHawks News Release


The Augusta RiverHawks put forth a valiant third period effort to give themselves a chance to pick up the win Saturday afternoon at the James Brown Arena, but it was the Columbus Cottonmouths who skated away with the 4-3 overtime victory.

Just over two minutes into the extra frame Cottonmouths' forward Derek Pallardy stole the puck off a RiverHawks' forward and sprung off on a breakaway. He out-skated the RiverHawks' back-checkers and beat RiverHawks' goaltender Jon Olthuis on the glove side.

The RiverHawks do pick up a point in the standings for pushing the game to overtime, which moves them into a tie for first place in the SPHL with the Knoxville Ice Bears. The Ice Bears do have two games in-hand on Augusta.

The RiverHawks needed a big effort in the third period in order to tie the game at three and they got just that. Augusta outshot the Cottonmouths 15-5 in the third period, but they were unable to break through until they had just 17 seconds left on the clock in regulation time. Defenseman Jason Price blasted a hard, low shot from the point that Cottonmouths' goaltender Ian Vigier stopped, but the rebound was batted in the net by Neil Graham, sending the game into overtime.

Ultimately, a poor second period was what cost the RiverHawks the game. They gave up two goals in the frame, one to Daniel Amesbury and another to Orrin Hergott. It was Hergott's second of the game, as he also opened the game's scoring just under two minutes into the game on the power play.

The RiverHawks led the game after the first period, powered by Captain Matt Auffrey. Auffrey set up his team's first goal with a shot on goal that was stopped by Vigier, but Ed Snetsinger followed up shoving the puck over the goal line. Seven minutes later he led a two-on-one with Aaron McGill while short-handed. A pretty passing play led to a wide open Cottonmouths' net, into which Auffrey deposited the puck.

The RiverHawks are back in action on Phoenix Refrigeration Ice at the James Brown Arena Thursday, January 5th as they play the Huntsville Havoc. The puck drops at a special time of 7:35pm. Tickets for the game are available through the RiverHawks' office and the James Brown Arena box office. Additional information on the Team, tickets, and schedule are available on the RiverHawks' home on the web, www.augustariverhawks.com or by calling 706-993-2645.



SPHL Stories from December 31, 2011


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