MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at ELMIRA RIVER SHARKS

River Sharks Turn Down the Rockers in Shootout, 3-2

by Jon Kliment

Elmira, NY, -  The River Sharks came into their third game at home looking to continue riding a winning streak against a non-conference opponent as Motor City made their way to Elmira for a back-to-back match up. Both teams came in off a win and looking to continuing climbing their respective division ladders. 

The Rockers came out of the gate hot putting pressure on the River Sharks from the drop of the puck and landing the first goal of the game as after a power play came from a Rasmus Asp interference minor Pavel Svintsov was able to beat Spencer Kozlowski at 6:10 of the first period to give Motor City the 1-0 lead.  

In the period of the long change Elmira came out with a renewed energy and on a power play of their own Nick Gullo was able to get free in the slot and on a Cooper Bowman pass Gullo hammered home the shot past Trevor Babin to tie it up 1-1. As time ticked down it looked as though the period was going to come to an end with a tie, but after some disorganized passing and a turnover saw Danny Vanderwiel gave the Rockers back a one goal lead, 2-1. 

The River Sharks have came out in the third looking for a way to get the game tied up. As time continued to tick down and seconds dripped off the clock it was another late power play that saw the high fire power of Kona Jackson net his third of the season to tie up the game 2-2 with just 1:41 seconds to go in regulation.  

It would take the shootout and another magnificent effort from Spencer Kozlowski stopping 3 of 3 and a Nick Gullo goal to give the River Sharks the win.  

Kozlowski stopped 31 of 33 in his third win of the season. 

The River Sharks are back at it tomorrow night at 6:07 pm against Motor City. Log on to Ticketmaster.com or call 607-734-PUCK and get your tickets today! #FeartheFin 

Motor City Rockers Fall to Elmira, 3-2, in Shootout

by Ben Szilagy

Elmira, NY - For the second consecutive weekend the Motor City Rockers found itself in a shootout, and for the second weekend in a row, the Rockers lost via the shootout. 

The Riversharks Nick Gullo earned the only goal in the post regulation skills competition to power Elmira to a 3-2 win over the Rockers on Friday night at First Arena.

Nick Magill-Diaz, Scott Coash, and Pavel Svintsov failed to score for the Rockers, and Brett Parker Martin Moucha were also held goalless in the shootout. 

The Rockers took the lead in the first period on the man advantage.

Brad Reitter held the puck in the far side circle after collecting the puck from Svintsov at the point. Reitter moved the puck back up to the point where Jaime Milam fired a shot on net. Svintsov chipped the rebound over the glove of Spencer Kozlowski for his first power play goal of the season - third overall with 13:50 to play in the first period. 

The Riversharks thought it tied the score in the second period, as Rasmus Asp fired a shot that appeared to go under the crossbar from a shallow angle on the near side. A goal light went on, but no goal was called, and Elmira had a 5-on-3 for 15 seconds.

After the Rockers killed the 5-on-3 and faced a normal 5-on-4, the Riversharks got its power play goal off the stick of Nick Gullo who fired a sharp rebound from point blank range that tied the score at 1-1 with 4:37 into the second period. 

The Rockers regained the lead, 2-1, late in the middle frame when Reitter recovered the puck deep in the offensive zone and fed it to Svintsov in the nearside circle. Svintsov drew three defenders as he feathered a pass to Danny Vanderwiel at the far side post for Vanderwiel’s third of the season with 1:50 to play in the second period. 

With under two minutes left to play in the third period, the Riversharks defensemen Kona Jackson fired a hard shot from the point that was deflected in front of Trevor Babin by Luke Richards. The puck went through Babin’s five hole for the tying 2-2 goal.

Motor City has still earned at least a point in all five games played this season as it holds onto first place with 10 points in the Continental division with Columbus idle this weekend. 

The Rockers and Riversharks will square off again on Saturday night at First Arena at 6:05pm.

DANBURY HAT TRICKS at WATERTOWN WOLVES 

Wolves Nip Hat Tricks

by Jeff Barett

Watertown, NY -  After splitting a home and home series on opening weekend, the Wolves and Hat Tricks were back in action once again in the Watertown Municipal Arena on this Friday evening.

It didn't take long for the game to start to resemble the very first meeting this year. Danbury would strike twice in the first six minutes to take a two goal lead.

The Wolves started the game short handed due to a delay of game penalty before we even started, and Sam Dabrowski would make the Wolves pay just :43 in. Giving Danbury a 1-0 lead.

At the 5:51 mark Nick DiNicola would add the second goal for Danbury, assisted by John McDonald and Sam Dabrowski.

That's when things became eerily reminiscent of opening night as the Wolves scored the next two goals to tie the game. First it was Trevor Lord on a power play netting the goal, assisted byTate Leeson and Michael Mercurio, cutting the lead to 2-1.

Mercurio would tie the game at 2 each just 2 minutes later, assisted by Tate Leeson and Dustin Henning.

It only took Watertown 1:58 longer to take their first lead of the evening. Mark Bottero lit the lamp at the 10:11 mark assisted by Mercurio and Toivo Hannikainen.

The Hat Tricks would not be outdone, and tied the game once again at the 17:34 mark, when Dmitry Kuznetsov would strike assisted by Daniel McKitrick and Jarod Yau.

Shots on goal were dead even at 11 a piece after the first 20 minutes. Both teams were 1 for 2 on power plays.

Period number two started with the Wolves jumping back into the lead 4-3 on a Tate Leeson goal, assisted by Vladislav Pavlov and Marc Bottero.

At 2:05 of the frame, Dustin Henning would get a 5 minute major for elbowing and a game misconduct and ejection leaving Watertown short handed for 5 minutes. But Watertown would strike with a short handed goal from Carter Thornton for his first goal of the season, giving Watertown a two goal lead. Vladislav Pavlov would be credited with his second assist of the night.

But just as earlier, Danbury fought right back to get within one on a Sam Dabrowski goal assisted by John McDonald. Making the score 5-4 at the 10:18 mark.

At the 12:17 mark, Danbury once again tied the score with a Jacob Ratcliffe goal. Johnny Ruiz would get the helper on the goal.

Tate Leeson struck once again for Watertown at 17:01 giving the lead back to the Wolves 6-5 on a power play goal. Trevor Lord and Mike Mercurio were credited with the assists on the goal.

Period number 3 ended up being a scoreless affair, and the Wolves held on for the 6-5 win.

Danbury outshot Watertown 39 to 29 for the contest with Danbury going 1 for 8 on the power play while Watertown was 2 for 6. The Wolves will be back in action on November 17th when they once again host these same Danbury Hat Tricks.

The Hat Tricks will head right back home to host the Binghamton Black Bears on Saturday night at 7:00  

Hat Tricks on Losing End of Another Track Meet in Watertown

by Doug Lattuca

Watertown, NY -  In a back-and-forth barn burner inside the Watertown Municipal Arena on Friday night, the Hat Tricks were outdueled by the Wolves, 6-5 in the third meeting between the teams this season. Reminiscent of the first time these teams met back on Oct. 13 in Watertown, eleven goals were scored in first two periods. And just like the opener, no one found the back of the net in the third.

If you tuned into the first period of Friday night’s game, you might have thought you were watching a replay of that season opener, also a 6-5 Watertown victory. That mid-October night saw four goals in the first frame while Friday night had six scores in the opening 20 minutes.

The Hat Tricks were granted an early power play due to a Watertown pre-game warm up violation and didn’t waste much time getting on the board. Forward Sam Dabrowski wristed a left circle shot into the top right corner just 43 ticks in to give the Hat Tricks a 1-0 lead.

About five minutes later, the Hat Tricks struck again. Forward Nick DiNicola tipped a centering pass from defenseman John Macdonald inside the right post to extend the lead to two. DiNicola has three goals and one assist in three games against the Wolves this season.

But like game one of the 2023-24 campaign, the Wolves howled back with three consecutive goals to push ahead. D-man Trevor Lord struck first with his fifth goal of the season at 7:13. Lord scored four goals in the season opener against the Hat Tricks and has eight points against Danbury this year. Then exactly two minutes later, 9:13, Michael Mercurio tied the game in his return for the Wolves. At 10:11, Marc Bottero made it three goals in 2:58 for Watertown to put the Wolves in front 3-2.

Despite being on the opposite end of the momentum, Danbury’s Dmitry Kuznetsov wacked home a rebound at 17:34 to knot things up at three and that’s how the period ended.

The second session didn’t provide much of a break for either side as five more goals were scored. Watertown forward Tate Leeson netted his fifth score and eighth point against the Hat Tricks this season to restore a one-goal advantage.

The Hat Tricks were granted a five-minute power play following a Dustin Henning elbowing major and game misconduct, but Watertown was the team that benefitted. Carter Thornton was sprung on a shorthanded breakaway and snapped it over the left shoulder of Hat Tricks goalie Kevin Lake for a 5-3 advantage.

But the Hat Tricks stormed back with two goals of their own in a 2:09 span. First, Dabrowski tapped home his second of the game at 10:08. Then, forward Jacob Ratcliffe evened things up at 12:17 on a three-on-one pass from captain Jonny Ruiz.

The Hat Tricks nearly killed off a five-minute cross-checking major (and game misconduct) handed out to defenseman Zach Pamaylaon at 13:28 but Leeson found the top left corner of the net for his second of the night to nudge Watertown ahead.

In the third, the Hat Tricks fired 11 shots at the cage but couldn’t beat goalie Josh Rosenzweig. Rosenzweig entered the game in relief of the starter Eloi Bouchard after the Hat Tricks jumped ahead 2-0 in the first.

The Hat Tricks outshot the Wolves 39-29 in the game.

Tate Leeson has six goals and four assists in three games against the Hat Tricks.

The Hat Tricks host Binghamton Saturday night at 7 p.m.

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at WYTHEVILLE BOBCATS 

Bobcats Fall to Thunderbirds 

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA -  The Blue Ridge Bobcats fell in a valiant comeback effort in their inaugural meeting with the Carolina Thunderbirds by a final score of 4-1.

The Thunderbirds jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Bobcats continued to persist with unrelenting pressure and physicality.

The effort paid off in the second period, when Hunter Hall took advantage of a shorthanded breakaway and went under the bar with a beautiful backhand goal to make the score 2-1. 

Carolina answered with two goals late in the second, the latter of which right at the buzzer, to extend to the eventual 4-1 final.

Christian Pavlas stopped 21 or 24 shots in net for the Bobcats.

Blue Ridge heads to Carolina tomorrow night to finish out a weekend home-and-home set between the two teams. Puck drop is set for 6:35.

MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO 

Sea Wolves Nip Zydeco

by Morgan King

Baton Rouge, LA -  Baton Rouge Zydeco is the only team in the FPHL without a point this season, but after tonight's game against the Mississippi Seawolves they are still the only team without a win.

During the first period of Thursday's hockey game Zydeco's Sotirios Karageorgos scored the first goal, making this his first point in FPHL season. Karageorgos is not only the youngest player on the team but the newest addition. As the period continued Justin LaPorte scored the final goal with 7 seconds left in the period. 

The duel between MJ Graham and the Seawolves Tyler Lambert resulted in the first of many fights for the second period. The Asselin brothers, Adamo and Davide, both shared fighting infractions towards the end of the second period. Zydeco started shooting the puck more resulting in a two point streak from Parker Moskal.

It was a 6-5 lead heading into the third period for Mississippi. Starting in the third period Zydeco started strong with Parker Moskal, and he has added to his scoring streak. The team is struggling with the power plays in the game and has been taking more shots to shoot the puck. The final score of the game was 7-6 with the Mississippi Seawolves taking the win.

The Zydeco's next game is November 8 where they will host the Columbus River Dragons for a three game home stand.