Walleye Collect Sixth Straight Win with 5-3 Victory in Savannah
ECHL Toledo Walleye

Walleye Collect Sixth Straight Win with 5-3 Victory in Savannah

Published on March 12, 2026 under ECHL (ECHL)
Toledo Walleye News Release


Savannah, GA - The Toledo Walleye took down the Savannah Ghost Pirates tonight by a score of 5-3 at Enmarket Arena en route to their sixth consecutive victory. Garrett Van Wyhe scored twice, Riley McCourt had a goal and an assist, Tanner Dickinson had three assists, Johnny Waldron and Brandon Kruse each had two assists, Ryland Mosley and Brendon Michaelian each scored, and Matt Jurusik stopped 35 of the 38 shots he faced.

How it Happened:

Toledo got the first power play of the game as Matt Koopman took a high-sticking minor 3:47 into the first period. Savannah, who holds the third-best penalty killing unit in the ECHL, killed off Toledo's power-play chance. Nick Granowicz took another penalty for Savannah, this time for a hook at the 12:52 mark of the first.

Garrett Van Wyhe got the Walleye on the board first, scoring his 11th goal of the season at the 17:30 mark of the first period. Johnny Waldron and Tanner Dickinson got the assists on the goal that put the Walleye up 1-0. Brendon Michaelian added another 1:05 later, putting Toledo up 2-0 with this third goal of the season. Brandon Kruse and Nick Andrews got the assists on the goal at the 18:35 mark of the first.

Savannah got a goal back, though, as Savannah scored to cut Toledo's lead back down to one 1:12 later. Jaxsen Wiebe was responsible for the goal with 12 seconds to go in the first, sending Toledo to the locker room with a 2-1 lead.

Ryland Mosley scored his fourth goal in three days, his fifth goal of the season at the 6:32 mark of the second period. Brandon Kruse got the lone assist on the goal that put Toledo up 3-1 over the Ghost Pirates, his sixth point in his last two games. Riley McCourt added onto the lead, scoring his sixth goal of the season 1:23 later. Johnny Waldron and Tanner Dickinson each got their second assists of the night.

Toledo took their first penalty of the night, a tripping call against Tanner Kelly at the 15:43 mark of the second period. The Walleye killed the penalty off, their first kill of the night. The Walleye held the Ghost Pirates off the scoreboard in the second as the score remained 4-1 at the end of the period.

Savannah got their second goal of the game at the 7:20 mark of the third period off the stick of Dennis Cesana, his sixth goal of the season, cutting Toledo's lead back down to two. Garrett Van Wyhe got it back, scoring his second goal of the night and 12th of the season. Tanner Dickinson got his third assist of the night on the goal, and Riley McCourt got his second point with an assist at the 12:23 mark of the third. Savannah fired back less than a minute later, as Christophe Tellier scored his seventh goal of the season to bring the Ghost Pirates back to a 5-3 deficit.

Colin Swoyer took a slashing penalty with 5:25 left in the third, putting Savannah on a late power-play chance. Toledo killed the chance, erasing a critical opportunity for the Ghost Pirates. Savannah pulled Vinnie Purpura with 3:15 to go for the extra attacker, looking to mount a comeback. Toledo held them off the board, though, as the 5-3 score held final. Toledo was 2-for-2 on their penalty kill, outshooting Savannah 41 shots to 38.

Three Stars:

1 - F Garrett Van Wyhe, TOL (2 G)

2 - F Tanner Dickinson, TOL (3 A)

3 - D Riley McCourt, TOL (1 G, 1 A)

What's Next:

The Walleye head to North Charleston, SC to face off against the South Carolina Stingrays, looking to improve on the team's 6-21-2 record against the Stingrays. South Carolina has 75 points on the season (one less than Toledo), which puts them in second place in the South Division. Puck drop for tomorrow night's game is set for 7:05 PM.

News:

Earlier this week, the Toledo Walleye signed 6'3", 230-pound center Reilly Funk to an ECHL Standard Player Contract. Funk, the 25-year-old native of Portage, Manitoba, just finished his fifth-year senior season at Bemidji State University, where he played 36 games and recorded 20 points (12 goals, 8 assists).

Funk has been with Bemidji State for the past two seasons, playing a total of 72 games for the Beavers, recording 43 total points between 2024-26, including 19 goals and 24 assists, racking up 78 penalty minutes. Prior to transferring to Bemidji State, Funk played at Northern Michigan University for three years, where he recorded three goals, eight assists (11 total points), and 31 penalty minutes in 41 total games as a Wildcat. Between the two CCHA schools, Funk has 54 points (22 goals, 32 assists) in 113 games. Prior to playing college, Funk played two seasons in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms between 2019-21, where he donned the "C" in the 2020-21 season. He played 80 games between the two seasons, recording 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists) and racked up 96 penalty minutes.

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