ECHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen Lose Lead But Come Back to Beat Trenton 5-4

Published on March 7, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Peoria, Ill. (March 7, 2004) – The Peoria Rivermen blew a two-goal lead and trailed early in the third period but came back to beat the Trenton Titans 5-4 in front of 4,866 on Sunday afternoon at Carver Arena.

Trenton took a 4-3 lead just 35 seconds into the final session with their second power play goal of the night. Chris Pittman pumped in his 21st goal of the season from out in front of the net on a Matt Zultek pass.

The Rivermen tied the game back up 4-4 at 9:49 of third. Colin Hemingway stole the puck from Trenton's Tyler Kindle along the right wing boards, broke in alone on Titans goaltender Chris Houle and scooped his 10th tally in a Rivermen uniform and second of the game just under the crossbar.

Peoria took the final lead of the night with 3:45 left in regulation. David Kaczowka, who pummeled Trenton's Ryan O'Keefe in a second period fight, fed rookie Garett Cameron as he broke into the Trenton zone on left wing. Cameron made his to the corner with a defenseman draped all over him and somehow found a way to get the puck back to Kaczowka in front of the net. Kaczowka pick-axed the puck over the left pad of Houle for his first goal in a Rivermen uniform and the game winner.

Peoria (36-16-8, 80 points) equaled a season high set on January 13 with its sixth win in a row and for the first time have won five in a row at home to improve to 18-11-3 at Carver Arena. The Rivermen, in the third place in the nine-team Northern Division, gave themselves a four-point cushion over the rival Johnstown Chiefs. Trenton (29-22-7, 65 points) is winless in two games (0-1-1) and is 2-2-1 through five games of a nine-game road trip.

Peoria goaltender Levente Szuper stopped 29 of 33 in his 14th victory of the season (14-7-1). Houle turned away 23 of 28 shots in his fifth loss of the season (7-5-3).

The Rivermen took a 1-0 lead just 1:05 into the game. Hemingway collected a Tyler Rennette rebound in the slot and snapped his ninth goal in a Rivermen uniform off the pad of Houle and inside the left post.

Peoria made it 2-0 at 17:00 of the first. Trevor Baker's shot from the lower part of the right face-off circle was stopped by Houle, but rookie Bobby Haglund was on the doorstep to slam the puck home for his first professional goal.

Trenton got on the board with 21 seconds remaining in the opening session. Robert Liscak took a chip pass from Peter Metcalfe at the bottom of the left face-off circle and launched the puck just under the crossbar for his second tally of the season.

The Rivermen grabbed their two-goal lead back with just one second remaining the first. George Halkidis took a pass from Rennette at the right point and wristed it toward the goal. The puck deflected off a player past Houle for Halkidis' second professional goal.

The Titans got within one for the second time on the afternoon at 10:41 of the middle stanza. Scott Bertoli stripped the puck from Rivermen defenseman George Halkidis along the right wing boards and fed Zultek in the slot. Zultek turned and snapped his 28th tally of the season just under the crossbar.

Trenton tied the game 3-3 just over one minute later on the power play. After a flurry of activity in front of the Peoria goal, in which Szuper stopped five point-blank chances, Mathieu Brunelle darted to the right goal post and flipped in a backhand for his 21st tally of the season.

On Tuesday, March 9, the Rivermen face off against the Titans for the second game in a row and the second of just three season matchups. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Carver Arena. NASCAR and Coca-Cola Family of Racing Driver Kurt Busch will appear and sign autographs from 6-7:15 p.m.

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ECHL Stories from March 7, 2004


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