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Surge Narrowly Escape With Game One Win Over RiverHawks

April 12, 2011 - SPHL (SPHL)
Augusta RiverHawks News Release


The Augusta RiverHawks made a late attempt to steal the first game of the SPHL President's Cup Championship series, but Mississippi Surge star Matt Zultek scored with just over two minutes remaining in the game to give the Surge a narrow 3-2 victory Tuesday night in Biloxi.

The RiverHawks had the opportunity to tie the game with a late power play, but were unable to cash in on the chance.

The RiverHawks got off to a great start as they managed to get on the board first. Travis Dunstall converted a Matt Auffrey pass while on the power play to give the visiting RiverHawks the early 1-0 lead.

However, before the end of the second period the Surge would manage to grasp the advantage. Tying the game was Zultek with less than five minutes to go in the period, and with just 17 second left to go in the frame, Jason Beeman would score while the Surge were on the power play to put his team ahead.

A scoreless third period would give way to a tense third where eventually the RiverHawks would finally tie the game. After a barrage of shot RiverHawks' forward Neil Graham would even the score hammering home a pass from line-mate Jim Gehring.

Through the second half of the final period the two teams would trade chances, but it was eventually Zultek who would blast a shot past RiverHawks' goaltender Jon Olthuis off of a pass from Michael Richard that would be the game winning goal. The RiverHawks tried valiantly to even the score, but they were unable and the game would go into the books at 3-2.

Surge goaltender Bill Zaniboni picked up the win by making 24 saves, while Olthuis made 36 saves in the loss.

Game Two in the SPHL President's Cup Championship will be played in Biloxi on Wednesday, April 13th. The series will then turn to Augusta and the James Brown Arena with Game Three being played Friday, April 15th. If necessary, Game Four will also be at the James Brown Arena Saturday, April 16th, with the fifth and final game returning to Biloxi. The puck will drop for games played in Augusta at 7:30pm. Fans can find out all the information on tickets at www.augustariverhawks.com or by calling 706-993-2645 or 1-877-4AUG-TIX.



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