Rivermen Rookies Lead Third Period Charge to Top Huntsville 6-3
March 22, 2025 - SPHL (SPHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
HUNTSVILLE, AL - The Rivermen rookies led the way for Peoria with an explosion of offensive explosion in the third period to lift the Rivermen 6-3 over the Huntsville Havoc on Saturday night at Propst Arena.
Just like Friday night, Peoria and Huntsville played back-and-forth hockey with solid chances for both sides. Also, like Friday night, the Rivermen scored first on a power-play strike. Alec Baer picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and stepped in over the Huntsville line. Drifting to his left, he waited for a half-second before feeding a pass to Michael McChesney who was streaking into the zone late. McChesney took the pass and fired a hard wrist shot in stride that sailed into the back of the net to put the Rivermen up 1-0.
Unlike Friday night, the Havoc were able to find the back of the net in the first three minutes of the second period to tie the game up 1-1. Peoria answered with a crazy goal midway through the second period that pinballed off of both Jordan Ernst and Mike Gelatt and into the net to give the Rivermen the lead back. Though the Havoc broke through again on a power-play strike late in the second period, they were outdone by a literal last-minute goal. Fletcher Anderson received a pass behind the net and then fed a pass to Garett Devine right in front of the net. Devine took two swings at the puck as his first shot was saved, but he buried his rebound to put the Rivermen up 3-2 with just 32 seconds to go in the second period. It marked the second straight night that the Rivermen had scored a goal in the last minute of the second period to take a lead into the third.
The Havoc scored in the first half of the third period to tie the game 3-3. But then the Peoria rookies took over the game. It started with Michael Ferrandino receiving a pass at the right-wing dot and sniping a wrist shot from a tough angle into the back of the net to put the Rivermen up 4-3. Fletcher Anderson streaked in on a breakaway and scored his first in pro hockey on a nice forehand-backhand deke. Marko Jokovljevic added his first in the SPHL on a wrist shot from the right-wing side.
In the end, the Rivermen picked up their second straight victory over the Havoc by three goals. Peoria is now in firm control of first place in the SPHL with 75 points, six more than Huntsville. The Rivermen will take on the Pensacola Ice Flyers on Sunday at 4:05 pm in Florida.
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