Rivermen Season Ends in OT of Deciding Game 3
Published on April 4, 2015 under SPHL (SPHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release
Peoria Rivermen vs. Louisiana IceGators
(Peoria Rivermen, Credit: Nathan Kerley)
PEORIA - The Peoria Rivermen scored three first-period goals for the second straight night, but the Louisiana IceGators tied the game in the final seconds of the middle period and captured a 4-3 overtime win in the deciding Game 3 of the first round of the Southern Professional Hockey League President's Cup Playoffs.
The Rivermen took two penalties in the first two minutes and the IceGators capitalized on the 5-on-3 advantage when Jeremy Boyer collected a hard bank off the back boards at the left post and slammed in the game's first tally 2:20 into the contest. Peoria erased the early difficulty with three goals in 3:15, two by Alex Hudson at 13:05 and 15:28 both assisted by Jake Trask and Mike Gurtler, and one by Steve Morra on a backdoor feed to the bottom of the right circle assisted by Matt Summers and Garrett Vermeersch 52 seconds later on a power play.
The IceGators cut the margin to 3-2 with 14:03 remaining in the second period on a Stephen Buco drive from the slot to the stick side. Louisiana sent the game to the second intermission tied 3-3 on a rebound goal by Shawn McNeil with just 11.4 seconds showing.
The Rivermen received a power play with 6:01 remaining in regulation but could not convert a pair of scoring chances including hitting the left post of an open net. Peoria's Jake Trask ran in on a breakaway in the final five seconds of regulation but was stopped by IceGators goalie Scott Diebold.
Louisiana registered the game-winner 12:10 into overtime when Chris Wilson buried a rebound of a Buco shot from the bottom of the left circle.
Diebold earned the win with 36 saves. Kyle Rank sustained the loss with 20 stops. Louisiana was 1-for-5 on power plays while the Rivermen converted one of their seven chances.
The Rivermen were eliminated in the deciding game of the first round for the second consecutive season. The top three seeds in the President's Cup Playoffs were all eliminated on Saturday night as the Mississippi RiverKings defeated two-time champion Pensacola 2-1 and Knoxville bested Columbus 4-2. The RiverKings move directly into the finals to await the winner of a best-of-three series next week between Knoxville and Louisiana.
Images from this story
 Peoria Rivermen vs. Louisiana IceGators (Nathan Kerley) |
SPHL Stories from April 4, 2015
- RiverKings Advance to President's Cup Finals - Mississippi RiverKings
- Rivermen Season Ends in OT of Deciding Game 3 - Peoria Rivermen
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