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Snakes Take Two of Three, Halfway Done with Season-Long Road Trip

January 12, 2009 - SPHL (SPHL)
Columbus Cottonmouths News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga. - The Columbus Cottonmouths are halfway through their season-long six-game road trip where they will visit all five opposing teams in the SPHL. The Snakes won two of three on the northern portion of the swing last week with wins at Twin City on Thursday and Richmond on Saturday but falling to Fayetteville on Friday night. The Snakes conclude their road trip this weekend with three games a bit closer to home. Columbus travels to Huntsville, Ala. on Friday to take on the Havoc on back-to-back nights Friday and Saturday before heading to Knoxville on Sunday to take on the league-leading Ice Bears. All Cottonmouth games as well as all other SPHL matchups are broadcast live via B2 Networks with both a video and audio feed. There is a nominal fee associated with each game; details can be found at www.cottonmouths.com. In addition, away games are aired live in the Columbus area on WEAM 1580 AM "The Zone," with Mike Vee providing the play-by-play action. CURRENT RECORDS AND STATS

Last Week: 2-1-0

Record: 14-14-3, 31 points (T-4th Place, SPHL) 89 GF, 99 GA 15.7% PP (5th, SPHL); 84.1% PK (2nd, SPHL)

LAST WEEK'S TRANSACTIONS

1/4 - G Ian Vigier loaned to South Carolina (ECHL)

1/5 - D Shayne Baylis waived

1/8 - G Ian Vigier returned from South Carolina (ECHL)

UPCOMING GAMES AND PROMOTIONS

Friday/Saturday, January 16/17 - Columbus at Huntsville, 8:35 PM EST (Season Series vs. HSV: 0-5-1)

The Snakes will take on the Huntsville Havoc at the Von Braun Center on Friday and Saturday nights. Both the Cottonmouths and Havoc are two different teams since the last time they faced each other in a 2-1 Huntsville victory at the Snake Pit on November 29. After a torrid 10-1-0 start, Huntsville has gone 8-11-3 in their last 22 games and have fallen seven points behind first-place Knoxville in the league standings. Columbus was 4-8-2 after the loss to the Havoc in November and has gone 10-6-1 since. The Snakes-Havoc series is the only series between two teams in the SPHL where a team has failed to earn at least one win against the other.

Sunday, January 18 - Columbus at Knoxville, 5:00 PM EST (Season Series vs. KNX: 3-5-0)

Columbus heads to Tennessee for a Sunday afternoon game against the Ice Bears in Knoxville, the final game of their six-game road trip. The Snakes have yet to win in Knoxville this season but the last game was an exciting contest as Columbus couldn't put the equalizer home late in the game in a 2-1 loss on January 2.

COTTONMOUTHS WEEK IN REVIEW Thursday, January 8 - Columbus 5 at Twin City 4 (Attendance: 860) Michael George's hat trick, the second by a Cottonmouth this season, paced the Snakes to a 5-4 victory over the Twin City Cyclones on Thursday night. Brad Patterson and Mat Ponto also added goals for Columbus. Tim Green tied George for the point lead on the night, assisting on three of the goals. The Snakes were 1 for 3 on the power play while the Cyclones were 2 for 8 with the man advantage. Chad Rycroft was the winning goaltender for Columbus, stopping 30 of 34 shots on goal, while Terry Dunbar took the loss in net for Twin City with a 24-save effort on 29 shots on goal.

Friday, January 9 - Columbus 3 at Fayetteville 4 (Attendance: 3,353) Sam Bowles, Michael George, and Tim Green scored goals for the Snakes, but it was not enough to get the win in a 4-3 decision to Fayetteville on Friday night at the Crown Center. George also had his second straight three-point night with two assists in addition to his goal. Ian Vigier took the loss in net for the Snakes with 28 saves on 32 shots on goal, while Kyle Knechtel stopped 32 of 35 for the win in net for the FireAntz. Both teams had five power play chances with Columbus converting on two of theirs and holding Fayetteville scoreless in all five of theirs.

Saturday, January 10 - Columbus 3 at Richmond 2 (Attendance: 4,062) Michael George scored a goal in his third consecutive night and Ryan Rutz added a pair of goals in a 3-2 win over Richmond on Saturday night. Chad Rycroft picked up his second win of the week between the pipes in light work, facing only 19 shots and turning aside 17 of them. Ryan Scott stopped 28 of 31 in the losing effort for the Renegades. Both teams had one power play goal with Columbus having five chances with the man advantage and Richmond three.

THREE STARS OF THE WEEK

1. F Michael George - George scored seven points on the weekend with five goals, two assists, and a hat trick on Thursday night at Twin City. For his efforts, the SPHL selected him as the Player of the Week for the past week.

2. F Tim Green - Green had five points on the weekend with three assists on Thursday and a goal and assist on Friday night.

3. F Ryan Rutz - Rutz tallied a pair of goals in Saturday's game at Richmond.

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