SPHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Begin Drive for President's Cup Wednesday

Published on March 31, 2015 under SPHL (SPHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


LAFAYETTE, La. - The Peoria Rivermen begin their second straight Southern Professional Hockey League post-season with a trip to Louisiana before returning to Carver Arena on Friday.

The Rivermen face the Louisiana IceGators in a first-round best-of-three series beginning Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. on the Gators' home ice at the Cajundome. Game 2 is Friday at 7:05 p.m. at Carver Arena with the deciding game played Saturday at 7:05 p.m. in Peoria if necessary.

The Rivermen carry the top seed into the 2015 President's Cup Playoffs by finishing the regular season with the points title on a record of 36-17-3 for 75 points. Louisiana enters the post-season as the sixth seed with a regular season mark of 27-21-8 for 62 points. Peoria was 4-1-1 against the IceGators this season. The last four meetings between the squads required at least overtime with the Rivermen taking three of those decisions. The Rivermen won all three games at the Cajundome.

The Rivermen are led in scoring by Josh Harris, whose 23 goals and 25 assists for 48 points tied him for ninth in regular season SPHL scoring. The IceGators' leading scorer is Adam Stuart with 21 goals and 32 assists for 53 points, sixth in the circuit. Peoria goalie Kyle Rank finished second in the league in wins with 27 and in minutes played with 2,426, and fourth in goals against average with 2.40.

Steve Morra leads the Rivermen in scoring against Louisiana with 1 goal and 6 assists for 7 points. Harris has 3 lamp-lighters and 3 assists against the IceGators for 6 points while Garrett Vermeersch has collected 4 goals with 1 assist in the season series. Jake Trask also has 5 points on 3 goals and 2 assists. Rank has received all of the decisions in net in the six meetings.

Against Peoria, the IceGators are led by Bret Peppler with 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points, followed by Chris Wilson (4 goals, 2 assists, 6 points) and Jake Hauswirth (3 goals, 3 assists, 6 points).

The Rivermen set the playoff roster on Monday by returning defenseman Richie Zobak and right wing Ryan Raven to the squad. Teams may increase their rosters by one to a maximum of 19 players for the playoffs.

Audio of Rivermen games can be heard via www.rivermen.net and viewed via subscription at SPHLLive.com. Pre-game from the Cajundome is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday. The broadcast begins at 6:45 p.m. Friday and can also be heard on 93.7 FM in Carver Arena.

Playoff tickets are on sale daily through the Rivermen office. Season ticket packages and group ticket options for the 2015-16 campaign are on sale now through the Rivermen office, located at 201 S.W. Jefferson Street, or over the phone at (309) 676-1040. For the latest Rivermen news and notes, follow online at www.rivermen.net or through Facebook (www.facebook.com/PeoriaRivermen ) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/Peoria_Rivermen ).

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