Rivermen Build Early Lead in Win at Huntsville
March 13, 2015 - SPHL (SPHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The Peoria Rivermen scored two early power play goals and never looked back in a 6-2 win over the Huntsville Havoc on Friday night at Von Braun Center.
The Rivermen entered the first intermission with a 3-0 lead by scoring on both of their first-period power plays and adding a tally in the final minute. Garrett Vermeersch lit the lamp 4:09 into the game on a drive from the left circle with assists given to Jason Cohen and Ryan Raven, and Cohen found the back of the net nearly two and a half minutes later on a high slot wrister assisted by Steve Morra and Vermeersch. Alex Hudson wristed a goal from the bottom of the left circle over the stick-side shoulder of Havoc goalie Jesse Kallechy with 58.2 seconds remaining assisted by Dan Bremner and Matt Summers to end the opening period scoring.
Peoria continued the onslaught with a Josh Harris conversion of a backdoor feed from Cohen with 11:33 left in the middle chapter followed by a redirect by Summers from a Raven wrister also assisted by Vermeersch with 9:10 remaining for a 5-0 lead. The Havoc finally tallied but with a flourish as a Drew Akins flip from the slot was deflected by Frank with 1:46 left followed by a Jacob Johnstone top-shelf drive from the left circle 12 seconds later to set the second intermission lead for the Rivermen at 5-2.
Summers picked up his second goal of the game by scooping the loose change into an open net past relief goalie Kevin Genoe, assisted by Mike Gunn in his pro debut and Hudson with 14:47 remaining in regulation for the only goal in the final period to seal the win.
Kyle Rank earned his league-leading 25th win with 30 saves while Kallechy received the loss by stopping 7 of the 12 shots he faced. The Rivermen were 3-for-5 on power plays while the Havoc did not convert any of their three chances.
The Rivermen remain on top of the Southern Professional Hockey League with a record of 33-15-3, seven points ahead of Columbus. Huntsville stays in eighth place with a mark of 7-33-7.
The Rivermen conclude the weekend series in northern Alabama with a 7:30 p.m. Saturday face-off. Pre-game begins at 7:15 online at www.rivermen.net and subscription video through SPHLLive.com.
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 .
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