Rivermen Beat Cottonmouths 7-1 Saturday
December 19, 2015 - SPHL (SPHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
COLUMBUS, GA - The Peoria Rivermen scored seven goals in a game marred by penalties as they beat the Columbus Cottonmouths 7-1 Saturday night. The win, Peoria's second in a row, lifts the Rivermen into a two-way tie for second place with Huntsville at 26 points, two points behind first place Mississippi.
The Rivermen opened the scoring when Matt Summers came up with a breakaway and beat Cottonmouths goaltender Shannon Szabados at 3:54 of the first to make it 1-0. Chris Wilson doubled the Rivermen lead when he took the puck to the top of the right circle and tucked it under the crossbar at the 6:16 mark of the first for the 2-0 lead.
The Rivermen extended their lead to 3-0 at the 14:38 mark of the first when Mike Slowikowski took a centering feed from Steve Morra and beat Szabados from the slot. The Cottonmouths got on the board at 15:39 of the first when Garret Lockeridge flipped a puck from the corner to the front of the net where Craig Simchuk put it by Rivermen goaltender Kyle Rank to make it 3-1.
Peoria extended their lead at 2:04 of the second period when Connor Toomey scored a goal assisted bySummers and Morra to make it 4-1.
Chaos ensued at the 2:21 mark when Simchuk blindsided Rank, knocking the Rivermen goaltender unconscious before he was taken off the ice on a stretcher after a multi-minute delay. Ten seconds later multiple fights occurred in the neutral zone, with Cottonmouths captain Kyle Johnson issued a game misconduct as part of the fracas. Columbus head coach Jerome Bechard was ejected from the game at the 17:25 mark of the second after Cottonmouths winger Al Graves was given a five-minute major penalty for slashing. Bechard was flagged for an Abuse of Officials bench minor as well as a game misconduct for Leaving the Players Bench.
Peoria kept adding to their lead in the third period when Garrett Vermeersch connected on the powerplay at 6:59 to make it 5-1. Powerplay tallies from Mark Corbett at 16:11 and Steve Morra at 18:24 put the game away and gave Peoria the 7-1 final score.
Rank stopped 10 of 11 shots against him before he was stretchered off the ice early in the second period. Francois Brassard stopped all 14 shots he faced in relief.
Notes: Corbett scored his first SPHL goal in his 24th SPHL game...Toomey recorded his second goal in as many games with the Rivermen after he was acquired last Sunday in a trade with Macon...Summers had a goal and two assists to give him nine points in his last six games...Morra scored his first goal and first two assists of the season...The Rivermen were issued 11 penalties for 44 minutes while the Cottonmouths were whistled for 21 penalties totaling 94 minutes...The Rivermen conclude their road trip tomorrow night in Huntsville with a 5:00 CST puck drop against the Havoc...The broadcast can be heard starting with the pregame show at 4:45 at portal.stretchinternet.com/rivermen
Single-game and season tickets for Peoria's 34th season of professional hockey are on sale at the Toyota Box Office in the Peoria Civic Center, or by phone at the Rivermen office, located at 201 S.W. Jefferson Street, or over the phone at (309) 676-1040.
SPHL Stories from December 19, 2015
- Mayhem Win Festive Evening, 4-1 - Macon Mayhem
- Rivermen Beat Cottonmouths 7-1 Saturday - Peoria Rivermen
- IceGators Beat RiverKings in Record-Breaking Shootout - Louisiana IceGators
- Ice Bears Fall in OT 4-3 - Knoxville Ice Bears
- Sheehan Stops 33 in Shootout Loss - Mississippi RiverKings
- RiverKings Sign Goaltender Sheehan - Mississippi RiverKings
- Rivermen Game Notes at Columbus - Peoria Rivermen
- SPHL Suspends Fayetteville's Schneider Pending Review - SPHL
- IceGators Drop Second Straight to IceFlyers - Louisiana IceGators
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
