DANBURY HAT TRICKS at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

Hall of Fame Performance

by Brooks Hill

Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears turned back the clock to the 80s, dawning the retro Binghamton Whalers jerseys on Saturday night. Binghamton put together a Hall of Fame performance, defeating the Danbury Hat Tricks 7-1. 

Don Olivieri started the scoring, just two minutes into the game on a takeaway by Dakota Bohn. Just 30 seconds later, Kyle Stephan sniped an unassisted goal, as Brass Bonazza reigned through the arena. It was all Binghamton, early in the contest. Blake Tosto added the final goal of the period with under two remaining, and the Black Bears were able to skate into the room up 3-0. 

The pressure continued, as the Binghamton lead continued to grow. The captain, Tyson Kirkby, was able to score on the power play, and Stephan recorded his second of the night, making it 5-0. That’s when Danbury was able to get on the board. Kolby Johnson deflected a shot past Nolan Egbert for the first and only goal of the night for the visitors. Before the horn blew, Austin Thompson saved a goal with his stick on the back post.

Kirkby began the third period with a shorthanded tally, that slid under the glove of the Danbury net minder, as Binghamton continued to pour it on. The final tally of the night came from Bohn on the power play. Nolan Egbert made 31 saves in net, earning his 11th victory of the season. 

HAT TRICKS FALL IN BINGHAMTON, 7-1

by Doug Lattuca

Binghamton, NY -  The Hat Tricks were dropped by the Black Bears 7-1 on Saturday night in the final road game of the regular season. Binghamton scored five unanswered goals to seize control in the first two periods. Forward Kolby Johnson grabbed the only goal for the Hat Tricks at 1:16 of the second period. 

With the loss, the Hat Tricks remain five points behind Motor City for second place in the Empire Division and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. 

Binghamton wasted little time scoring twice in the opening 2:30. Donald Olivieri’s backhander snuck through the five-hole of Hat Tricks netminder Talor Joseph 1:57 into the period. 34 seconds later, Kyle Stephan doubled the Black Bears lead on a snipe from the right circle. With two minutes remaining, Binghamton forward Blake Tosto pushed the Binghamton advantage to three on a rebound in the crease. After one, the Black Bears led the shots 23-10. 

5:30 into the second frame, Binghamton forward Tyson Kirkby buried a tic-tac-toe power play goal to make it 4-0 Binghamton. With just over three minutes remaining, Olivieri notched his second of the game on a point shot through traffic to push the Danbury deficit to five. As time was winding down in the middle period, Kolby Johnson tapped in a backdoor pass from Connor Woolley to get the Hat Tricks on the board.

In the third, the Black Bears tallied two more, Kirkby shorthanded and Dakota Bohn on the power play, to close it out.



The Hat Tricks head home to finish up their three-game weekend. Elmira comes to town on Sunday for a 3 p.m. puck drop.

WYTHEVILLE BOBCATS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS 

Bobcats Upset River Dragons

by Tom Callahan

Columbus, GA - The Columbus River Dragons dropped a game in regulation for the first time all season at home in a 3-2 loss to the Blue Ridge Bobcats on Saturday night.

One night after closing out the FPHL regular season title and resting regulars Justin MacDonald, Josh Pietrantonio and Nolan Slachetka, Blue Ridge took advantage of the situation to establish a 2-0 lead less than halfway through the first period.

Columbus would close to within 2-1 on a Nathan Balkwill marker at 17:53 just before the end of the first period, which was also the first River Dragons shot on goal for the game.

In the second, former River Dragon Carson Andreoli scored the eventual game winner just 52 seconds into the period. Columbus had a goal disallowed for a high stick 15:23, but did get one back on Jordan Popoff’s first goal of the season at 18:00 to end the second period down by a goal.

Despite pulling Breandan Colgan late in the third period the River Dragons were unable to tie the game and Blue Ridge claimed victory for the first time in the season series.

The River Dragons wrap up the weekend in Mississippi against the Sea Wolves tomorrow at 4:05 pm ET. The AirForce Heating and Air Pregame Show starts at 4:30 ET on 106.9 Rocks and the River Dragons YouTube channel @ColumbusRiverDragons.  

ELMIRA RIVER SHARKS at WATERTOWN WOLVES

 Wolves Win Important Game

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - With the 7-2 loss last night to the River Sharks, the Wolves found themselves in a must win situation coming into tonight's game, to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

The Wolves would strike first when Carter Thornton took a pass and raced to the offensive end beating Sammy Bernhard for a short handed goal, giving Watertown a 1-0 lead at the 12:53 mark. Assists on the goal went to Vladislav Pavlov and Declan Flanagan.

Cameron Yarwood was able to tie the score on a blast from the right point beating Eloi Bouchard through the legs at 14:23 assisted by Kyle Powell.

The period ended 1-1 with the Wolves out shooting Elmira 17-7 in the frame.

Mike Mercurio started the second period with a power play goal at just :38 in, giving Watertown a 2-1 lead. Trevor Lord was credited with an assist on the goal.

The score would once again get knotted up at 2 each when Dustin Jesseau scored at 15:01 of the period assisted by Cody Rogers and Rasmus Asp.

Watertown again out shot the River Sharks in the second, this time 17-12, with the period ending tied at 2-2.

At 2:05 of the third period, Carter Thornton netted his second goal giving the Wolves a 3-2 lead, assisted by Jake Black and Chase DiBari.



Once again the River Sharks battled right back as Trevor Neumann scored, knotting the game at 3 each at the 3:05 mark. Brett Parker would get the assist.

At 13:43 of the period Jake Black would score his first goal for Watertown breaking the tie and putting Watertown ahead for good. Assisted by Trevor Lord and Gehrig Linberg

 The Wolves are right back in action on Sunday night as they host the Binghamton Black Bears in a 7:05 tilt. For Elmira, they are off to Danbury, Ct for a 3:00 matchup against the Hat Tricks

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES 

Sea Wolves Swept by Thunderbirds

by Wesley Barnett

Biloxi, MS - Saturday night in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum started out slow between the visiting Carolina Thunderbirds and the hometown Mississippi Sea Wolves. 

Matt Stoia started the scoring with a quick wrist shot with a little over five minutes left in the first period. The Thunderbirds would answer only a minute later with a Gus Ford equalizer. The Sea Wolves fought until the end of the period with a quick passing backhanded goal from Matt Stoia with 8 seconds left in the period. 

Looking to ride the late period momentum, the Sea Wolves would struggle to keep up with the Thunderbird offense. A power play goal by Dawson Baker, followed by an unassisted Joseph Kennedy goal and a Roman Kraemer one timer would give the Thunderbirds a 2 goal lead heading into the 3rd period. 

Back and forth throughout a physical 3rd period, Jon Buttitta would net two goals in the last 4 minutes to stretch the lead to 4 goals, ended the scoring 6-2. 

Cody Karpinski saves 27 shots on 29 attempts. Joe Sheppard in net for the Seawolves saved 23 shots out of 29 shot attempts.



PORT HURON PROWLERS at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO  

Prowlers Sweep Zydeco Win 4-2 

by Morgan King

Baton Rouge, LA - The Baton Rouge Zydeco played Port Huron Prowlers Saturday night in the Raising Cane's River Center. The Prowlers defeated Zydeco in a 4-2 win for the Prowlers. 

In the first period, Port Huron and Baton Rouge battled for half of the period. 10 minutes into the period the Prowler's Tristin Simm scored making this his 14th goal of the season. Port Huron attempted scoring more shots than the Zydeco resulting in another Prowlers goal. The Prowlers take the lead finishing the period with a 2-0 lead.

In the second period, they had an aggressive start where the Prowlers took advantage of Vincent Dekumbis to score, increasing their lead to 3-0. Zydeco’s goalie John Moriarty made an incredible save to shut down another Prowler goal attempt. Zydeco made several shots but they were unable to connect with the net. By the end of the period, the Prowlers continued to have the lead as Zydeco had not made a goal.

The last period had an early Zydeco power play making their first goal from Noah Robinson. Another Zydeco power play followed right after the scored goal where Noah Robinson scored once more. Baton Rouge increased their lead but Port Huron scored finishing the game with a 4-2 score. 

Baton Rouge Zydeco's next game is April 11th at 7:30 in the Raising Cane's River Center.