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RiverHawks Win Third Straight Game Against Ice Bears

March 9, 2012 - SPHL (SPHL)
Augusta RiverHawks News Release


The Augusta RiverHawks inched closer to the Southern Professional Hockey League's regular season title with a 4-3 victory over the Knoxville Ice Bears Friday night at the James Brown Arena. The RiverHawks survived a fierce comeback bid from the Ice Bears who were three goals down late in the third period.

The victory gives the RiverHawks a 10-point lead on the Ice Bears in the race for first place. The Ice Bears have just six games seven games remaining on their schedule, meaning the margin of error for Knoxville is getting slim if they hope to steal first place from Augusta. The win was the RiverHawks' third straight against the Ice Bears and twice in as many nights. The streak is a stark contrast to the first five meetings between the clubs, each of which the Ice Bears won.

The night's star was RiverHawks' defenseman Drew Baker, who scored a pair of power play goals and added an assist. Both of Baker's goals came from nearly the exact same spot on the ice, at the top of a faceoff circle in the offensive zone, and both were one-time slap shots.

Baker's first goal was the lone marker of the first period, and gave the RiverHawks a much-needed early lead. Things tightened up considerably in the second period when Emery Olauson took a pass from David Segal and rifled the puck past RiverHawks' goaltender Jon Olthuis to even the score up.

The goal gave the Ice Bears the momentum, but the RiverHawks snatched it back after killing a long Ice Bears 5-on-3 power play. The RiverHawks used their newly found energy to apply pressure in the offensive zone, and eventually Jim Gehring would find Captain Matt Auffrey alone in the slot. Auffrey snapped the puck past Ice Bears' goaltender Kyle Rank for the go-ahead goal.

Just seconds later the lead would be further extended. RiverHawks' forward Brendan Taylor found Baker at the point who would hammer a perfect low slap shot at the goal. Rank made the initial stop, but the puck drifted out to defenseman Jason Price and he would let go a slapper of his own that would make it past Rank.

Mid-way through the third period it appeared the RiverHawks took complete control of the game when Baker scored his second of the night off of a nice pass from Taylor. However, the Ice Bears stormed back with goals from Kyle VanderMale and Segal. Knoxville continued to press for the game tying goal, but Olthuis shut the door and picked up the victory.

The RiverHawks are back in action on Phoenix Refrigeration Ice at the James Brown Arena Saturday, March 17th as they play the Columbus Cottonmouths. The puck drops at 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 March 9, 2012


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