BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at ELMIRA RIVER SHARKS

River Sharks Down Black Bears in OT, 4-3

by Jon Kliment

Elmira, NY -  The River Sharks battled their I-86 rivals the Binghamton Black Bears. In their first encounter in Binghamton the Black Bears showed their offensive fire power with a seven goal outpouring to the River Sharks three. However these were two different teams than the ones that met two weeks ago. 

Elmira came out strong in the first period attacking the Bears netminder Nolan Egbert. After a failed power play the Black Bears fired back, but though it seemed like the period was going to end in a scoreless tie a late break and series of passes from Nick Gullo to Marty Moucha and back to Elijah Wilson to tape it home for a 1-0 lead with just 11 seconds to go in the first.  

The second period was a firing squad again for both sides. After an early goal from Cooper Bowman on a beauty of a pass from Bret Parker to give the River Sharks a 2-0 lead, Binghamton had a chance on a penalty shot after Andrew Logar was dragged down from behind. Spencer Kozlowski was up to the task and kept the game locked at 2-0. Unfortunately, the Black Bears were able to answer back 4 minutes later on a goal from Austin Thompson to make it 2-1. After a slew of penalties to end the period the 2-1 score held up going into the final frame. 

Binghamton continued in the trend scoring a power play goal from Dustin Jesseau to tie up the game at two a piece. Though the intensity of the game ramped up the teams continued to play even strength hockey until a penalty to Brandon Lucchesi for boarding saw a break for Moucha where he forehand-backhanded the goalie and went top shelf to give Elmira a 3-2 lead. In something that ha been all too common however 17 seconds later Nikita Ivashkin tied up the game.  

Heading into overtime the chirping didn’t die down, but it was Elmira who controlled the play early. After Binghamton regained and dumped the puck in Stavros Soilis saw an opportunity and the captain blazed a path to the net burying the puck over the shoulder of Egbert and giving Elmira their first win of the season against the Black Bears.  

Kozlowski stopped 41 of 44 in the victory his second of the season. 

Elmira comes back to First Arena Friday November 3^rd at 7:05pm against the Motor City Rockers. Get your tickets on Ticketmaster.com, the app, or by calling 607-734-PUCK! #FeartheFin

COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO

Zydeco Lose Inaugural Game, 6-3 

by Lily Gayle

Baton Rouge, LA -  The Baton Rouge Zydeco lost 6-3 against the River City Dragons in the inaugural game in the Raising Canes River Center in the first of a three game series. 

In the first period, the River Dragons took hold of control quickly on defense and offense, scoring two goals on the Zydeco. Baton Rouge had intensity but lack of communication were rocky as they only had three shots and no goals while the Dragons had 21 shots on goal, averaging a shot per minute. 

The second period proved to be a turning point for Baton Rouge Zydeco as they fell into a good rhythm, going 2-for-5, upping their shooting percentage to 33 percent compared the River City’s 11 percent. Within the first three minutes and 54 seconds of the second period, Scott Shorock was able to get past the goalie and score the first goal in Baton Rouge Zydeco’s history. Marquis Grant-Mentis scored the second goal with an assist from Shorrock 5:27 into the second period. Zydeco had five shots on goal with two goals while Columbus had 20 shots on goal and two goals. 

The third period started off with a lightning quick goal within the first 37 seconds of the period, scored by Cody Wickline, bringing up the score 5-2. It wasfollowed by another goal by Wickline, growing the lead 6-2. With less than two minutes left in the game, a third and final goal was scored for the Zydeco by Cody Rodgers with assists by Liam Little and Colby Audette). 

The next game of the series will be held in the Raising Canes River Center at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27th.

WICKLINE HAT TRICK, FIVE POINT NIGHT PACES RIVER DRAGONS TO OPENING WIN

by Tom Callahan

Baton Rouge, LA - Cody Wickline recorded a hat trick and added two assists while linemate Justin MacDonald put up five assists as the Columbus River Dragons topped the Baton Rouge Zydeco 6-3 to open the Federal Prospects Hockey League season.

Rookie Sequoia Swan scored his first pro goal at 6:11 to start the offense in motion for Columbus, and they would pour it on all night long. The line of Wickline (3-2-5), MacDonald (0-5-5) and Alexander Jmaeff (1-2-3) combined for 13 points on the night and never let the Zydeco get fully in the game.

Defensively the River Dragons played well, allowing just three shots on goal in the first period, five in the second and 10 in the third. Last year’s FPHL co-Goaltender of the Year Breandan Colgan (15 saves, W) was only called on occasionally to help secure the win.

Columbus finished the night 1-for-2 on the power play while the River Dragons PK went a perfect 3-for-3 on the evening.

The same two teams go right back at it tomorrow night at 8:30 pm ET, with the AirForce Heating and Air pregame show kicking off one half-hour before puck drop on 106.9 Really Rocks and the team’s YouTube channel @ColumbusRiverDragons.