Game Recaps 10/19/24

HUDSON VALLEY VENOM at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS


Black Bears Blank Venom On Domestic Violence Awareness Night


by Cole Parenti


Binghamton, NY -  The Black Bears and Venom clashed for the second time in as many days, with this meeting shifting to the Visions Veteran Memorial Arena. The Black Bears came into the game looking for their first-weekend sweep of the season.

           

Binghamton’s Austin Thompson would get the crowd on their feet early as he connected on his 4th goal of the weekend. It would be the only goal scored in the frame as the two sides skated off to their locker rooms with Binghamton hanging onto their thin lead.

            

The second period saw the home team erupt for 3 goals, the first of which came from the captain, Tyson Kirkby. The next goal would come off the stick of rookie Khaden Henry as he collected his first professional goal. The final tally of the frame was Blake Tosto depositing his 2nd of the season on the power play at the 5:51 mark. The period would end with the Venom taking a penalty that would carry over to the third.

            

The third saw the Black Bears tally their second power-play goal of the night as Kyle Stephan finished a sensational lone-man attack. The Black Bears would take this lead all the way to the final horn as this one sees them winning by a final of 5-0. 

           

Connor McAnanama was sensational as he stopped all 23 shots he faced. His counterpart John Moriarty also had a strong performance stopping 45 of the 50 shots asked of him. The Black Bears get 5 goals, each from a different forward as 11 players collect points overall. The Black Bears are back in action next Friday as they travel to Danbury for a meeting with the Hat Tricks.

   

Hockey season is back! Call the Black Bears office at 607-722-7367 or stop into the third-floor hockey offices of Visions Veterans Memorial Arena. Fans can secure their seat for all 28 home games next year and save up to 30% on tickets. Stay current with the latest team news by visiting www.binghamtonblackbears.com and by following the Black Bears all year long on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok @BlackBearsFPHL. 

 


CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at PORT HURON PROWLERS


Fetterly, Nousiainen Lead Prowlers to First Win


by Will Wiegelman


Port Huron, MI -  Austin Fetterly scored twice in the shootout to lift the Port Huron Prowlers past the Carolina Thunderbirds 3-2 on Oct. 19 at McMorran Place. Valtteri Nousiainen stopped all four Thunderbird shootout attempts in his first FPHL start.


“That’s exactly what we expected [from Nousiainen], he had a strong camp,” said Prowlers assistant coach Chris Paulin. “We have goaltenders here who are capable of stopping every puck and he was pretty close tonight to doing that. In this league, if your goalie outplays the other goalie, you’ll have a hard time losing and he certainly did that tonight.”


Port Huron had to play from behind early as Petr Panacek got a steal in the offensive zone, walked down the slot and fired a shot that Nousiainen got most of, but not all. It trickled over the line and made it 1-0.


Just past the midway point of the second period, Isiah Parris finally found the first Prowlers’ goal of the season when he jammed home a netmouth scramble. It was his first professional goal.


“Once you get the first one, it starts to roll,” Fetterly said. “Good for Isiah to get his first too, happy for him.”


A few minutes later, Port Huron got a man advantage opportunity, but 13 seconds into it, John Buttitta danced his way into offensive territory and beat Nousiainen over the glove to give Carolina back the lead.


The Prowlers got another power play in the period’s final minute and they capitalized off another netmouth scramble. Alex Johnson got the last touch as he forced the puck over the line. That made it 2-2, a score that lasted through the third period and overtime.


In the bottom of the second round of the scoreless shootout, Fetterly beat Mario Cavaliere with a quick, low shot. After Nousiainen stopped Jiri Pestuka and Roman Kraemer in round three and four respectively, Fetterly moved in from the right side again and this time, made backhand-to-forehand more and roofed the puck to win the game for Port Huron. As per new FPHL rules, a player is allowed to shoot multiple times after the third round.


Fetterly had an assist in regulation, Parris added a helper to his goal and Matt Graham dished out a pair of apples for the Prowlers. Nousiainen finished with 45 saves between regulation and overtime.


Cavaliere took the loss after a 31-save performance.


The Prowlers hit the road for the first time next weekend as they visit the Hudson Valley Venom on Friday, Oct. 25 and the Binghamton Black Bears on Saturday, Oct. 26. Both games will be streamed live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.




DASHERS of DANVILLE at WATERTOWN WOLVES


Wolves Sweep Weekend Series


by Jeff Barrett


Watertown, NY -  For the second night in a row, the Wolves and Dashers faced off in the Watertown Municipal Arena. Watertown would strike first on this night as Carter Thorton sent a shot through a crowd for a power play goal at the 7:34 mark, giving the Wolves 1-0 lead. Assists on the goal went to Ross Bartlett and Ludlow Harris Jr.


The Wolves extended the lead to 2-0 when Kyle Heitzner sniped one from the top of the left circle beating the Dashers starter Oscar Wahlgren. Chiwetin Blacksmith and Ludlow Harris were credited with the assists on the goal.


Watertown outshot the Dashers 15-7 in the period and took the 2-0 lead to the locker room.


4:36 into the second period, the Dasher got on the board with a Jensen Baehr goal assisted by Niko Riemann and Justin Brausen, cutting the Wolves lead in half.


Just under three minutes later, the Dashers' Lester Brown would beat the Wolves keeper Anton Borodkin to tie the game at 2 each.

The Wolves would assume the lead once again with a Ludlow Harris Jr. goal at the 10:16 point. Assisted by Chase DiBari and Trevor Grasby.

At the 14:17 mark, the Wolves extended their lead on a Trevor Neumann shot , assisted by Trevor Grasby and Kyle Heitzner, giving the Wolves a 4-2 lead.


Watertown wasn't quite done yet as just over a minute later Chiwetin Blacksmith slid the puck of a Dasher defenseman and into the goal making the score 5-2. Mike Mercurio and Kyle Heitzner got the helpers on the play. The period ended withWatertown outshooting Danville 24-6.

Athe 7:46 mark of the third, the Wolves continued the scoring with a Kyle Heitzner goal, assisted byChiwetin Blacksmith and Michael Mercurio, making it 6-2.


Two minutes later at 9:25 Dustin Perilatt added to the Wolves total making the score 7-2 assisted by Dylan Infantino and Justin Schmit.

The Dashers were done yet as they added two more goals in the final twenty minutes. First it was Justin Brausen assisted by Brandon Stojcevski making it 7-3. Then Lester Brown netted his second of the weekend assisted by Ryan Kheir and Tom Murphy to close the gap to 7-4, but that's as close as they would get.


The Wolves scored the 7-4 win and now look forward to next weekend when they host the Motor City Rockers for two games.


DASHERS DROP WEEKEND SERIES TO THE WOLVES


by Devin Dobek


Watertown, NY -  The Dashers looked for their first win of the season Saturday night in Watertown. Timely turnovers and penalties emerged as the kryptonite. A lopsided offensive game would lead to their second defeat, as the team searches for an identity ahead of their home opener on Friday.


The first period opened in a different way than last night, with less physicality and fewer scoring chances on both sides. Oscar Wahlgren made his season debut in between the pipes for the Dashers, opposed by Anton Borodkin once again for the Wolves. After a lackluster powerplay, Dasher defenseman Jensen Baehr was assessed a tripping minor. On their first power play, Watertown cashed in with a Carter Thornton tally. From there, Kyle Heitzner picked right up where he left off, beating Wahlgren with a wrist shot to the glove side. The Wolves took their 2-0 lead to the locker room while managing to hold the Dashers to just 7 shots. 


The second period showed some early life for Danville as a good O-Zone shift led to a holding penalty. The opportunity would go to waste as a bench minor was assessed for too many men. The Dashers killed off the ensuing power play and a screened shot off the stick of Justin Brausen was punched home by Niko Reimann for his first pro goal to cut the deficit in half. Less than 3 minutes later, Dashers assistant captain Lester Brown found himself in all alone. Coming in at top speed, Brown lost his edge during a deke and crashed into Borodkin, allowing the puck to trickle across the goal line and even the contest at 2. Less than 90 seconds later, Baehr was booked for a cross-check. The momentum shifted right back to Watertown. On the power play, Ludlow Harris Jr. fired home a one timer off a slick feed from Chase DiBari to give Watertown the lead again. Shortly after, Trevor Neumann tipped home a shot from the point and the lead was restored to 2. The floodgates opened when just over a minute later Wolves superstar Chiwetin Blacksmith found the back of the net to make it 5-2.


Needing some energy to start the third, Dasher grinder Thomas Murphy challenged Josh Tomasi to a fisticuff bout. After a lengthy exchange, Murphy came out on top and the two embraced before heading to their respective boxes. Watertown wasn’t fazed, as Kyle Heitzner crashed the net to extend the lead to 4. Showing no signs of stopping, Dustin Perillat beat Wahlgren over the glove to make it 7-2. Searching for answers, The Dashers turned to their leadership group for some production. Captain Justin Brausen found the five-hole of Borodkin to make it 7-3, and a beautiful move by Lester Brown led to his second score of the night. The late efforts would fall short, as the Dashers would fall 7-4 while being outshot 49-21.


The Dashers return to Danville with a record of 0-2 to host the Athens Rock Lobsters in their home opener on Friday. The Wolves improve to 3-1 and continue their homestand this Friday against the Motor City Rockers.




ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS


Rock Lobsters Romp Bobcats in Weekend Finale


by Brett Wiseman


Wytheville, VA -  The Blue Ridge Bobcats played before a packed house of nearly 2,000 on Pack the House Night at Hitachi Energy Arena, but were blitzed by the powerful offense of the Athens Rock Lobsters. After the two teams battled to an overtime result the previous night, Athens rolled to a 10-2 victory.


There were bright spots for Blue Ridge despite the result. Tristian Simm tipped home his first goal as a Bobcat late in the first, redirecting a wrist shot for Garrett Johnson all set up off a great individual effort from Andrew Uturo.


Yegor Ramanou scored his first North American professional goal, stuffing home a shot at the net mouth off a saucer feed from Devin Sanders just over a minute into the middle frame.


Hunter Virostek made his Bobcats debut in net, making 11 3rd period saves in relief of Connor Green.



The Bobcats return home Friday night for Slap Shot night against the Carolina Thunderbirds with puck drop slated for 7:30 PM. Tickets are available at the arena box office, by phone at 276-335-2100 or online at blueridgebobcats.com/tickets,



Rock Lobsters Win Their Fourth-Straight Game with 10-Goal Night


by Matteen Zibanejadrad


Wytheville, VA -  The Athens Rock Lobster tremendous run continued Saturday night in the Hitachi Energy Arena, decimating the Blue Ridge Bobcats in a 10-2 win.


Five-different Rock Lobsters scored their first goals for the hockey club, starting with Riley Robertson; the six-foot-six defenseman finished off a cross-crease pass from Carter Shinkaruk at the 4:23 mark of the first period.


Less than two minutes later, Malik Johnson tallied his first goal of the year off of a pass from Orca Wiesblatt that was reminiscent of Shinkaruk’s on Robertson’s goal. 


Later on in the period, Kayson Gallant extended his scoring streak to four games with a wrister in the high slot. Filip Virgili assisted on the score, another example of the combination of Gallant and Virgili in this campaign.


The next two goals belonged to the hosts, who got to within striking distance thanks to Tristan Simm and Egor Ramanau; the latter made it 3-2 early in the second period. 


It was all Athens from then on out, with goals from Wiesblatt, Virgili, Garrett Milan and Brandon Picard putting the finishing touches on a huge win. 


Wiesblatt was the star of the show, scoring two goals and dishing out assists on three more for a five-point contest.


The undefeated Rock Lobsters (3-1-0-0, 11 pts) return to action next week in Danville, Ill. to take on the Danville Dashers starting on Friday night at 8:05 p.m. ET.




MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at DANBURY HAT TRICKS


Hat Tricks Take Down Motor City, 6-2, in First of Season


by Doug Lattuca & Lexi Burkey


Danbury, CT -  The Hat Tricks picked up their first win of the 2024-25 season, 6-2, over the Motor City Rockers on Saturday night. 


Danbury netted three unanswered goals two separate times in the game including the final three scores, and put up 62 shots to split the opening weekend series with Motor City.


In a similar fashion to opening night, Motor City tallied the first goal of the game. Just over three minutes into the first frame, forward Eli Rivers ripped a shot from the right circle and forward Avery Smith cleaned up the shorthanded goal for the 1-0 lead. Danbury rookie forward Gaetano “Guy” DeLonge answered at 11:15, with his first goal as a Hat Trick. DeLonge took the rebound from rookie forward Eric Linell's slot shot and lifted it over the left pad of Rockers netminder Ricardo Gonzalez.


Danbury tallied 27 shots in the first period, the most allowed in single period by the Rockers in their history.


At 5:39 of the second, forward Aleksandr Gamzatov gave Danbury the lead with his second goal in as many nights. Later on, another rookie joined in on the party. Forward Vadim Frolov snatched his first professional goal after potting a rebound just outside the crease to push the lead to 3-1. However, just three minutes later, at 15:44, Rivers added his second point of the night, this time a goal, over the left pad of McCollum to cut the deficit to one.


2:36 into the third period, forward Corey Cunningham, assisted by Ruiz and Ratcliffe, found a free puck in the low slot and tucked it home to extend Danbury's lead back to two. Later in the third, Cunningham scored his second goal of the night, once again being set up by Ruiz and Ratcliffe to add some cushion at 5-2. A minute later, Gamzatov buried his third of the season and second of the contest to put the game out of reach.


The Hat Tricks finish up a three-game homestead to start the season on Friday, Oct. 25 against the defending Commissioner's Cup Champion Binghamton Black Bears. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. 




COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at MONROE MOCCASINS


RIVER DRAGONS COMPLETE WEEKEND SWEEP WITH 2-1 WIN OVER MONROE


by Joseph Furtado


MONROE, LA - The Columbus River Dragons capped off a perfect weekend, securing a 2-1 win over the Monroe Moccasins on Saturday night to complete a two-game series sweep. Alex Storjohann played hero, netting the game-winning goal late in the third period to help Columbus take home all six points from the weekend series.


After a scoreless first period, River Dragons held a 12-6 edge in shots. However, Monroe would open the scoring in the second period with a powerplay goal from Mathias Tellstrom, giving the Moccasins their first lead of the season. The River Dragons answered back minutes later with a short-handed goal from Jake Raleigh to even the score at 1-1.


In the third period, the game remained tight until Storjohann struck and gave the River Dragons a 2-1 lead at 11:15. Despite a late surge by the Moccasins, River Dragons goaltender Bailey MacBurnie shut the door to help take all six points from the weekend series, improving to 2-0 on the season. With the loss, Monroe falls to 0-3-1-0-0 and will face the Baton Rouge Zydeco tomorrow for their first road trip of the season.



RIVER DRAGONS TOP MOCCASINS 2-1


by Tom Callahan


MONROE, LA - Alex Storjohann’s goal with 12:28 left in the third period broke a 1-1 deadlock and propelled the Columbus River Dragons to a 2-1 win over the Monroe Moccasins on Saturday night.


After a scoreless first period, Monroe broke through first with a power play goal just 2:57 into the second off the stick of Mathias Tellstrom. Tellstrom one-timed a cross-ice pass just past the outstretched right pad of River Dragons goaltender Matt Petizian (26 saves) to make it 1-0.


Columbus found itself a man down several minutes later, but Jake Raleigh’s shorthanded forecheck forced a turnover from Moccasin’s goaltender Sean Kuhn in the right wing corner. The puck came free in front of a wide open net and Raleigh tucked it home for his first of the season at 10:55 for the unassisted marker, tying the game at 1-1.


That set the stage for Storjohann, who took a leave from Justin MacDonald at the side of the Moccasins net and fired a shot towards the goal from below the left circle. The puck caromed in off the inside of Kuhn’s left pad and over the goal line for the game winner.


Despite a late rally from Monroe, Petizian and company shut the door to give Columbus its first regulation win of the season.


Next up for Columbus is the team’s home opener on November 1 and 2 against the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Season tickets are on sale now through the team office at (706) 507-4625 and online at rdragons.com.