DASHERS of DANVILLE at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

Black Bears Partner with Lockheed Martin for Military Appreciation Night

by Brooks Hill

Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Dashers Hockey Club in their first ever matchup on Friday night, 6-4. Tyson Kirkby delivered the second hat trick of the season, scoring the final three goals of the night for Binghamton. 

The game started on the power play for the home team, as the Dashers received a bench minor penalty for a warmup violation. The Black Bears would take advantage of the situation, scoring on the power play at the 1:14. Scott Ramaekers scored his 2nd of the season in just his 2nd home game of the year. Later in the period, again on the power play, Austin Thompson would continue his hot streak, doubling up the Black Bears lead. 

The Dashers showed fight in the final minute of the period. Lester Brown cashed in a rebound on the Dashers 2nd power play of the evening, cutting their deficit down to one. At the end of the period, the Black Bears led 2-1. 

The Dashers would draw even at 2-2 in the second. Jacob Gagnon scored a power play goal at 10:37 but that score did not hold up for long. Cameron Clark cleaned up a loose puck, giving the lead back to the Black Bears, only to be followed by Tyson Kirkby scoring his first of the night right after. After two periods of play, Binghamton had a 4-2 advantage. 

Physicality, big saves, and weird bounces were the themes of the third period. Less than a minute into the period, Kirkby tallied his 2nd of the night, giving the Black Bears their biggest lead. However, it did not last long... Nick Gullo sniped a corner, cutting the lead down to two, then Zachary DeMarce scored unassisted off a wild bounce off the corner stanchions. Once again, we had a one-goal game. 

With time running out, the Dashers emptied the net, allowing Kirkby to deposit the puck into the net for his 1st hat trick of the season. Black Bears would hold on to win 6-4, ending their four-game overtime streak. 

Kirkby’s Hat-Trick Stunts Dashers Late Surge

by Devin Dobek

Binghamton, NY - After a hectic week of travel, the Dashers looked to turn their focus back to hockey and find their second win of the season on the road. Standing in their way was the Empire Division’s best, the Binghamton Black Bears. After 60 minutes of an offensive slugfest, Tyson Kirkby’s hat trick would prove to be the difference and the Dasher’s would suffer yet another defeat. 

Period one began in one of the more unorthodox ways you will see this season. The Dashers were assessed a Pre Game Warm Up Violation penalty to put them shorthanded from the get go. In front of a near sellout, the Bears wasted no time bringing the building to life with a Scott Ramaekers snipe over the shoulder of Rutherford to open the scoring at 1-0 just 74 seconds in. Binghamton also rang a pair of shots off the post in the first 5 minutes, forcing the Dashers back on their heels early. Special teams have been a consistent problem for the Bucks this season, with a penalty kill hovering around just a measly 70% coming into the contest. Once again, the kryptonite emerged, with Niko Reimann getting booked for a high stick with 6 minutes remaining. On the powerplay, Bingo cashed in with an Austin Thompson short side rip to double the margin at 2-0. Searching for solutions, the Dashers caught a break when captain Tyson Kirkby was sent off for roughing with 95 seconds left. On the powerplay, Marian Pazitka, a new addition from Motor City, made an early name for himself with a beautiful shot for a rebound that Lester Brown buried home to make it 2-1. The Dashers could now close the book on the frame with some optimism for the final 40. 

With a ray of hope, the Dashers opened period two both fast and physical. Both teams exchanged chances early, but of course the narrative of the game was special teams. Black Bear forward Jamie Bucell decided to push his luck and was assessed a roughing minor leading to another Bucks man advantage. On the peeper, Jacob Gagnon rifled home a top shelf shot to even things at 2 from Pazitka and Gullo. The Black Bears were not fazed at all by the Dasher comeback, and less than 3 minutes later Cam Clark capitalized on an unlucky bounce in front to regain the Binghamton lead at 3-2. 4 minutes later, captain Tyson Kirkby caught Rutherford out of position again and potted a goal to restore the 2-goal lead. The Dashers were outshot 17-8 in period 2. 

Period 3 opened up with Tyson Kirkby scoring a highlight reel goal accompanied by a few dangles to make it 5-2. Although the scoresheet made the game appear out of reach, the Dashers did not let up. 59 seconds after Kirkby’s second tally, Nick Gullo fired a wrister by Egbert to narrow the margin back to 2. Needing another quick one, Trey Fischer dumped a puck in that took a wild bounce off the glass right into the slot for Zach DeMarce to bury and make it 5-4 with 12:02 to go. Looking for the equalizer, Nick Gullo drew a holding penalty from Chris Mott and the Dashers went a man up. After a flurry of chances, the penalty expired. The Dashers late surge would ultimately fall short, as Tyson Kirkby buried an empty netter for a Hat-Trick and cemented the final at 6-4.

The Dashers fall to 1-5-1 and will travel to play the Hudson Valley Venom tomorrow night. The top seeded Black Bears improve to 6-1-1 and will host the Port Huron Prowlers tomorrow night. 

PORT HURON PROWLERS at HUDSON VALLEY VENOM

Dustin Jesseau’s Big Night Paces Venom to 6-5 Win Against Prowlers

by Jim Cerny

Newburgh, NY - Dustin Jesseau recorded his second five-point game of the season to help lead the Hudson Valley Venom to a 6-5 win against the Ports Huron Prowlers at Ice Time Sports Complex on Friday.

The 32-year-old forward scored two goals and assisted on three others to give him 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in four games played. Jesseau also had five points on opening night, when he scored three goals and had two assists in a loss to the Binghamton Black Bears.

Jesseau’s linemates – Eimantas Noreika and Davide Gaeta – also had big nights Friday. Noreika scored two power-play goals and had an assist for his first three-point game. Gaeta had one goal and two assists for his fourth multi-point game already this season.

The Venom raced to an early 2-0 lead but trailed 3-2 at the first intermission in a wild turn of events. Noreika opened the scoring at 3:26 and Gaeta followed at 8:29 before the Prowlers scored three times on the same power play later in the period.

After a five-minute major penalty called against Hudson Valley’s Austin Pickford at 13:21, the Prowlers received two power-play goals from forward Reggie Millette and one from Austin Fetterly in a span of 3:49 to take a 3-2 lead.

Hudson Valley stormed back with four goals in the second period to take a 6-4 lead, though. The first two of those were scored by Noreika and Jesseau during a five-minute power play early in the period. After Alex Johnson tied the game 4-4 with – what else – a power-play goal for Port Huron at 9:30, the Venom pulled away again.

Venom captain Bret Parker scored his first goal of the season on a freak bounce to restore their lead at 12:00 of the second. Parker attempted to wrap the puck in around the boards, but it took a crazy bounce and darted to the net, beating surprised Prowlers goalie Makar Sokolov, who was behind his net to play the wrap in.

Jesseau scored again at 13:28 to end Sokolov’s night and give the Venom a 6-4 lead. Backup goalie Yoshi Kuoroiwa finished the game and did not allow a goal on eight shots.

Port Huron scored the only goal in the third period. Jake Vaughan netted his first of the season, off a 2-on-1 down low at 8:29, to make it 6-5. But the Venom killed off a 5-on-3 Prowlers power play shortly thereafter and goalie John Moriarty made the one-goal lead stand up with 11 saves in the third period.

Moriarty finished with 22 saves for the Venom, who are 2-3-1 in their inaugural season and have defeated the Prowlers twice already.

Fetterly and Johnson each had a goal and an assist for Port Huron, which fell to 3-3-1.

The Venom return to action with a home game against the Danville Dashers on Saturday. Game time is 7 p.m. All United States veterans receive free admission for Veterans Day weekend.

For Venom ticket information, please call 845-454-5800. Tickets may also be purchased at Ticketmaster.

Venom Down Prowlers 

by Will Wiegelman

Newburgh, NY - The Port Huron Prowlers dropped a chaotic visit to Ice Time Sports Complex 6-5 against the Hudson Valley Venom. The teams combined for 130 penalty minutes. 

Early in the first, Eimanta Noreika took a shot from the slot that hit a stick and rainbowed past multiple players, including Makar Sokolov, into the net to open the scoring. About five minutes later, Dustin Jesseau slid a pass in front to Davide Gaeta who scored and the top line for the Venom had them up 2-0. 

The first big fray of the game came with a little under seven minutes to go in the period after Blake Siewertsen gave Sokolov a snow shower while the Port Huron goaltender was covering the puck. Bryan Parsons grabbed Siewertsen and a pile formed with players beginning to pair off. When it was all said and done, 39 penalty minutes were handed out including five fighting majors and a game misconduct to Austin Pickford for being the third man in. That resulted in a five minute man advantage for the Prowlers. 

It took 17 seconds for Austin Fetterly to make Hudson Valley pay on the major penalty and 1:05 later. Reggie Millette tied things up with a one-timer from the left-wing circle. he struck again with another power-play marker, a wrister from the right-wing circle. The goals were his first two with Port Huron and put his new team ahead 3-2 after 20 minutes.

The Venom got a five-minute power play when, late in the first , Jesseau got tangled up with Alex Johnson who received a holding penalty and Tucker Scantlebury got a five minute major for fighting and an aggressor game misconduct. They connected five-on-three early in the second withy Matt Graham also in the box as Noreika walked the goal line and found just enough space to roof a shot and tie the score.1:03 later at five-on-four, Jesseau unloaded a one-time to make to make it 4-3 in favor of Hudson Valley.

The Port Huron power play answered later in the period as Alex Johnson leveled the score again with a one-timer of his own. Seven of the first eight goals of the game were power play markers.

The back breaker came for the Prowlers with eight minutes to go in the middle frame. Bret Parker dumped the puck in and Sokolov went to play it behind his net but it hit a stanchion and caromed into the vacated cage. 88 seconds later, Jesseau tried to make a back-door pass that hit a sliding Luke James and bounced in. That made it 6-4 and ended Sokolov's night. He took the loss with 17 saves.

Jake Vaughan got one back in the third, his first of the season, but Port Huron failed on a five -on-three opportunity later in the period and the comeback fell short. Things broke loose again with just over two to play as four players were handed 10-minute misconduct.

Millette had two goals, Fetterly and Johnson finished with a goal an assist apiece and Lukas Lacny dished out a pair of helpers in the loss. Yoshihiro Kuroiwa stopped all eight shots he faced in 25:16 of relief.

The top line for the Venom combined for 11 oints with five for Jesseau and three each for Gaeta and Noreika. John Moriarty made 22 stops in the win.

The Prowlers move3 on to Binghamton on Saturday, Nov 9 with puck drop at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena scheduloed for 7:00 PM. The game will be streamed live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

WATERTOWN WOLVES at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

Hat Tricks Silenced by Watertown, 6-0

by Doug Lattuca

Danbury, CT -  Anton Borodkin and Garrett Johnson pitched a combined 61-save shutout in a 6-0 Watertown blowout win over the Hat Tricks on Friday night. The Wolves scored three goals in the first and three in the second with forwards Trevor Neumann and Michael Mercurio each potting two goals. With the regulation loss, Danbury’s point streak ended at four games.

In the opening period, Watertown scored three goals in a 4:21 span. Neumann grabbed the game’s first two goals at 14:28 and 16:59 and 50 seconds later, Andrew Whalen buried Watertown’s third goal, his first of the season. 

At 16:24 in the second period, Watertown forward Michael Mercurio notched his first tally of the night off a cross-slot pass from former Hat Trick forward Kyle Heitzner to start a three-goal middle frame. Defenseman Trevor Lord added more fuel to the fire with an unassisted goal at 17:32 after cashing in on his own rebound. With just five seconds left in the period, Mercurio went one-on-one with McCollum and slipped the puck through his five-hole to put the Wolves up by six.

McCollum was replaced by Frankie McClendon to start the third period for the Hat Tricks and Johnson relieved Borodkin midway through the third due to an injury.

The two teams finish off a home-and-home series Saturday night in Watertown. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.

MONROE MOCCASINS at MOTOR CITY ROCKERS

MOCCASINS SCORE FOUR UNANSWERED TO DEFEAT ROCKERS, 4-3

by Alex Haenke

Fraser, MI - Hockey may be a game of three periods, but tonight’s game was a tale of two halves. The Motor City Rockers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the early stages of the second period. But it was the Monroe Moccasins who scored four unanswered goals in the back half of the game to win, 4-3. The comeback victory marked the first regulation win of the season for Monroe.

The first twenty minutes went quite well for the Rockers (2-5-0, 5 PTS). Motor City scored two goals in a period for the first time since October 26th against Watertown. Monroe’s Trygve Many Guns got a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct at 11:25. Just four seconds into the power play, TJ Sneath found the back of the net to make it 1-0, Motor City. Less than two minutes later, Cody Oakes gave the Rockers a 2-0 lead with a shot from the point. 

Eli Rivers opened the scoring in the second frame with a wrist shot to make it 3-0, Motor City. The Moccasins (2-3-3, 8 PTS) would find their way back into the game with a pair of goals from ex-Rocker Scott Coash and Michael Hagen Moe. A line brawl at the conclusion of the second period would see 38 penalty minutes recorded. Avery Smith and Nicholas Magill-Diaz of the Rockers each received game misconducts in the aftermath. 

Ricardo Gonzalez replaced Trevor Babin in net at the start of the third for Motor City. With just over ten minutes remaining in the game, Frank Steinway tied the game for Monroe. Two minutes later, Declan Conway scored to give the Moccasins their first lead of the game. Just like last Saturday against Port Huron, the Rockers had a late power play to try and even the score. But Sean Kuhn was up to the task in net for Monroe. He made four saves in the final minutes to seal the win for the Moccasins. 

The three stars of the game were Declan Conway (Monroe, 1 Goal), Cody Oakes (Motor City, 1 Goal), and Eli Rivers (Motor City, 1 Goal). 

The two sides will face off again tomorrow night at Big Boy Arena for Military Night. Monroe will be looking for their first two game sweep of the season. Motor City will be looking to snap a three game losing streak. 

MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

Bobcats Balanced Scoring Wallops Sea Wolves 9-2

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - Before a crowd of better than 1200 at Hitachi Energy Arena, the Blue Ridge Bobcats romped to a resounding victory in their return to the Roar County ice, hammering the Mississippi Sea Wolves by a score of 9-2. 

Blue Ridge's balanced scoring attack was as diverse as it gets, with each of the nine goals coming from a different Bobcat.

Aaron Ryback's second goal of the season just 2:41 into the game, a wrist shot rifled past the glove of Samuel Best. Blue Ridge weathered the storm of a late first period push by Mississippi and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, riding the momentum by controlling the remaining 40 minutes of play. 

Danny Martin, the game's second star, opened the scoring in the middle frame by one-timing home a beautiful saucer pass from Denis Radchenko just 2:11 into the second period. The 'Cats never looked back. Lucas Rothe sniped home his first professional goal, one of three Bobcats power play goals on the night, four minutes after Martin.

Rothe wasn't the only Bobcat to get either their first professional goal or first as a Bobcat on the evening. Dimitri Selyutin scored in his Blue Ridge debut, following a power play snipe by Daniel Klinecky. Justin Vernace followed Selyutin with a one-timer from the high slot for his first professional goal. Yegor Ramanau, Devin Sanders and Garrett Johnson each netted markers of their own to add to their season totals.

Hunter Virostek earned third star for his 25 save and 2 assist performance. Klinecky earned first star for his multi-point outing.

The two teams wrap up their brief two game season series tomorrow night on Military Night, with puck drop slated for 7:30 pm.

Sea Wolves Break Shutout Streak, But Can't Keep Up With Bobcats 9-2

by Jon Kliment

Wytheville, VA - The Sea Wolves came into the weekend having found some success in the preseason with an overtime win against the Bobcats, but having been shut out for two games in a row against the River Dragons last week Mississippi was looking for a confidence boost.

Both sides began the game a bit tentatively, but the Bobcats found an early opportunity on an odd man rush as Aaron Ryback ripped a shot past Samuel Best just 2:41 into the game to give Blue Ridge the 1-0 lead.

The second period began very similar to the first period as just 2:11 in Daniel Martin found the back of the net to give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead. 4:12 later Lucas Rothe added another one for the Bobcats to make it 3-0. After multiple chances on the power play the Sea Wolves had to play shorthanded and gave up another as Devin Sanders scored on the power play at 10:43 to make it 4-0. Mississippi showed signs of life after a goalie change however Curtis Hansen took a stretch pass from Matt Stoia just 19 seconds later to close the gap to 4-1 and end a scoreless drought of 156:04. Blue Ridge was not deterred however scoring 1:52 later to give the Bobcats back a four goal cushion. 

The third period was an onslaught of power play opportunities and goals for Blue Ridge as Daniel Klinecky, Dmitri Selyutin, Justin Vernace, and Egor Ramanau all added to the lead to make it 9-1. A late Don Carter Jr goal closed the gap to 9-2 but that was as close as the Sea Wolves could get.

Best stopped 14 of 17 to earn the loss while Trevor Roy stopped 11 of 17 in relief. 

The Sea Wolves are back in action tomorrow night back in Blue Ridge looking for revenge. Follow along on Youtube at 7:30pm ET! 

COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO

Too Little Too Late For Zydeco, Fall to Columbus 4-3

by Andy Poetzinger

Baton Rouge, LA - Talking to Jackson Bond before the game he said “I’m not a big moral victory guy”. That was a common feeling throughout the Zydeco locker room. They weren’t looking for another game where they were lucky to stick with the River Dragons. They were looking to give them a taste of their own medicine.

From the very drop of the puck you can see that there was certainly a different energy from the Zydeco bench. They pushed the pace of play from the very start of the game. A lot of opportunities were still coming from the outsides, but they still were getting shots through this time. 

It was a scoreless first, and first half of the second period, but that didn’t stop the game from being exciting. There were two fights in the second period. Ryo Namiki and Jestin Somero squared off in a quick battle. Later on in the period, Ian McDonald and Connor Lind went toe-to-toe and were throwing haymakers at one another for a good minute or so before tumbling to the ice. 

Columbus opened the scoring with a powerplay goal after a shot from the point changed directions multiple times and found Somero wide open at the side of the net. The Zydeco responded with a powerplay goal of their own a minute and a half later thanks to a seeing eye shot from Gehrig Lindberg, his first in a Zydeco sweater. The River Dragons would have one last trick up their sleeve before the period came to a close as Kirk Underwood found himself with a lot of space at the top of the zone and rifled a shot over Colgan’s glove to give the River Dragons a 2-1 lead through two.

The third period saw the momentum shift further to the River Dragons as they scored twice in 2:10 to vault themselves to a 4-1 lead. This Zydeco team never backs down from a fight, though. They continued to chip away and generate chances but couldn’t beat Sammy Bernard. 

That is until Elijah Wilson was able to get a gift goal. Laying down on his stomach behind the net, he was somehow able to wrap the puck around the post and sneak it past Bernard to cut the deficit to 4-2. Narek Aleksanyan made it 4-3 on a one timer from between the hashmarks with 5 second left on the clock, but it was not enough time for the Zydeco to finish the comeback. 

No moral victories for this Zydeco group, but it is a message to the rest of the league. The Zydeco are here to play, and they can play with the big dogs. 

The next game for the Zydeco will be on Friday night as they welcome Mississippi back to town for the first of a home and home series. Catch us on YouTube and WBRZ for that contest. Puck drop is at 7:05, and pre-game show is at 6:40.