Snake Pit Weekly

February 22, 2006 - SPHL (SPHL)
Columbus Cottonmouths News Release


SNAKES SPLIT WITH KNOXVILLE; CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOTCOLUMBUS, Ga. - The Columbus Cottonmouths split the past week's games with the Knoxville Ice Bears, earning three of a possible four standing points. Columbus beat Knoxville 5-3 at home on Tuesday to run their SPHL-record home winning streak to 16 games and lost to the Ice Bears 6-5 in a shootout on Sunday in Knoxville. This week features three games in three nights against the two Florida entries in the SPHL. The Snakes begin a home-and-home series with the Jacksonville Barracudas on Thursday night in the Snake Pit, then travel to Jacksonville to face them on Friday night. On Saturday night, the Snakes return home to battle the visiting Florida Seals. Saturday's game will be aired live on WCJM 100.9 FM, with the "Voice of the Snakes" Dana Barker bringing you all the action from the Snake pit beginning at 7:00 PM EST. The "Fourth Period Show" will air at the conclusion of Saturday night's game, where fans can call 706.645.2991 with questions or comments.

CURRENT RECORDS AND STATS Last Week: 1-0-1 Record: 26-14-4, 56 points (T-2nd, SPHL) 175 GF, 149 GA 20.6% PP (3rd, SPHL); 82.1% PK (3rd, SPHL)

LAST WEEK'S TRANSACTIONS 2/15 - D Mat Ponto loaned to Toledo (ECHL)

SPHL STANDINGS TEAM GP W L OTL PTS WPCT HOME ROAD L-TEN STREAK MAX HI LO Knoxville* 45 31 10 4 66 .733 19-1-1 12-9-3 9-1-0 3-0-0 88 1 5 Fayetteville* 46 26 16 4 56 .609 18-4-2 8-12-2 5-4-1 0-2-0 76 1 6 Columbus* 44 26 14 4 56 .636 17-3-0 9-11-4 6-3-1 0-0-1 80 1 6 Florida 44 22 16 6 50 .568 14-4-4 8-12-2 4-5-1 3-0-0 74 1 7 Huntsville 43 23 17 3 49 .570 15-6-2 8-11-1 6-3-1 2-0-0 75 1 7 Pee Dee 44 15 24 5 35 .398 10-10-2 5-14-3 3-6-1 0-2-1 59 2 7 Jacksonville 44 12 30 2 26 .295 9-13-1 3-17-1 1-8-1 0-5-0 50 4 7 * - clinched playoff berth; MAX - maximum number of points that can be earned; HI - highest position possible; LO - lowest position possible

UPCOMING GAMES AND PROMOTIONS Thursday, February 23 - Jacksonville at Columbus, 7:30 PM EST (Season Series vs. JAX: 5-2-0) The Cottonmouths meet the Jacksonville Barracudas for a Thursday night contest at the Snake Pit. The Barracudas defeated the Snakes in the last meeting between the two teams in Jacksonville on February 7. The Barracudas are nine points behind Pee Dee for the sixth and final playoff spot in the SPHL.

Friday, February 24 - Columbus at Jacksonville, 7:05 PM EST The Cottonmouths will visit the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena for the final time this season for a game against the Barracudas. After this game, the Snakes will have ten games remaining with seven of them inside the friendly confines of the Snake Pit.

Saturday, February 25 - Florida at Columbus, 7:30 PM EST (Season Series vs. FLA: 6-2-0) The Snakes and Seals square off on Saturday night in the Snake Pit. This is Florida's final road game of a grueling 13-game stretch away from their home Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Fla. as the Silver Spurs Rodeo and Osceola County Fair have occupied the Seals' home building for the past four weeks. The Cottonmouths will play Florida once more in the regular season with a March 4 game in Kissimmee.

COTTONMOUTHS WEEK IN REVIEW Tuesday, February 14 - Knoxville 3 at Columbus 5 (Attendance: 3,278) Five different Snakes scored goals in a 5-3 victory over the Knoxville Ice Bears on Tuesday night, an SPHL record 16th straight home win for the Snakes. Tylor Keller, Tom McMonagle, Mat Ponto, Ryan Rutz, and Craig Stahl all notched goals in the game. Chad Rycroft was the winning goaltender for Columbus, stopping 31 of 34 shots. The Cottonmouths were 2 for 6 on the power play while the Ice Bears were 1 for 8.

Sunday, February 19 - Columbus 5 at Knoxville 6 (SO) (Attendance: 2,524) The Cottonmouths fell to the Knoxville Ice Bears in a shootout on Sunday evening despite having two shorthanded goals in regulation off the sticks of Craig Stahl and Tylor Keller. Keller added an even-strength goal as well while Ryan Haggarty and Riley Riddell were the other two goal-scorers for Columbus. Ryan Senft earned the regulation tie and shootout loss, stopping 29 of 35 shots. Columbus was 1 for 6 on the power play while Knoxville was 2 for 5.

THREE STARS OF THE WEEK F Tylor Keller - Keller scored three goals in the two games over the past week, one of them a shorthanded marker on a 5-on-3 Knoxville power play. He also added an assist. F Craig Stahl - The captain of the Snakes scored two shorthanded goals, one in each game over the past week, and added an assist as well. F Tim Green - While not scoring a goal over the past week, Green contributed big with four assists.



SPHL Stories from February 22, 2006


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