Satim OT Goal Ends IceGators' Season
March 29, 2014 - SPHL (SPHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release
Knoxville, Tenn.--The Louisiana IceGators promising season has reached a premature end.
Eric Satim scored his second goal of the night with 2:29 remaining in overtime to give the Knoxville IceBears a 3-2 victory over the IceGators in the second game of the SPHL President's Cup Quarterfinals and a 2-0 sweep of the postseason series.
"It's a heartbreaking loss to end the season," said IceGators head coach Kevin Kaminski. "We got off to a great start with some great pressure and created a turnover that resulted in a [Shawn] McNeil goal. Then, we gave it right back on a bad turnover by [goalie Matt] Zenzola to give up a short-handed goal. Then we lost in overtime on a breakdown.
"We played well, but we didn't play like a playoff team. Our want and will wasn't there. We weren't hungry to go to the blue paint and sacrifice our bodies to score. We lost too many one-on-one battles. We didn't have enough grease tonight and had a few too many passengers."
McNeil's opening goal came only 22 seconds into the game. Matt Robertson and Ron Cramer assisted on the play.
Satim tied the game with the short-handed handed goal off Zenzola's turnover at the 11:13 mark of the opening frame. Peter Neal recorded an assist on the score.
Knoxville took a 2-1 lead with 15:27 remaining in regulation when Mark Van Vliet scored off assists from Satim and Neal.
Four minutes later, Chris Wilson tied the game with a goal of his own. Robertson and Kirk Byczynski assisted on the score.
Kaminski says while playoff losses are always hard, this loss is even more painful considering this team's talent.
"You only get so many opportunities to do something special, and with this team, we threw it all away," Kaminski said. "It's going to be a long summer. We'll have lots to think about. We just have to remember that you get out of life what you put into it."
SPHL Stories from March 29, 2014
- Ice Bears Sweep IceGators to Advance - Knoxville Ice Bears
- Satim OT Goal Ends IceGators' Season - Louisiana IceGators
- Surge Battle Hard, Fall Just Short to Pensacola 4-3 in Overtime - Mississippi Surge
- Ice Flyers Win 4-3 in OT, Sweep Series - Pensacola Ice Flyers
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