GAME RECAPS 4/8/23

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS 

COLUMBUS FALLS SHORT IN COMEBACK ATTEMPT AGAINST CAROLINA
River Dragons Drop to Second with Loss

by Tom Callahan

Columbus, GA - Despite 45 shots on goal the Columbus River Dragons could not find enough offense on Saturday night, dropping a 3-1 game to the Carolina Thunderbirds at the Columbus Civic Center.

Trailing 3-0 late in the third period the River Dragons finally broke through during a goalmouth scramble. Thomas Aldworth netted his 18th goal of the year from Cody Wickline and Jay Croop at 19:14, beating a sprawling Boris Babik (44 saves) for a 3-1 final.

Christian Pavlas took the loss with 24 saves on the night.

Columbus now trails the Thunderbirds by a single point with two games remaining in the regular season, both head-to-head with Carolina.

The final River Dragons home game of the season is Saturday, April 15 at 7:30 pm, and it’s Fan Appreciation Night. Fans will be treated to all kinds of surprises, giveaways and more! Tickets are on sale now through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.



MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES 

Sea Wolves Victorious in Home Finale

By Nick Roesch

Biloxi, MS – The Mississippi Sea Wolves relayed goals between four players on Saturday night in their 7-4 win over the Motor City Rockers at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The victory solidified a weekend sweep for the Sea Wolves after a 6-2 final the previous night. 

Mississippi suffered a slow start, falling behind 2-0 after Motor City goals from Declan Conway and Dante Suffredini. Shortly after, much like they did on Friday night, the Sea Wolves found a way to score in bunches. Yianni Liarakos, Philip Wong and Yaroslav Yevdokimov (2) each beat out Rockers goaltender Blake Scott for a 4-2 Mississippi lead after one period. 

Motor City proceeded to score in doubles, as Conway and Tim Perks tied the game in the second. Sam Turner drove in a shot on the rush as the scoreboard read 5-4 Sea Wolves at the final intermission. 

The Rockers’ offensive momentum stalled in period three. Liarakos scored two insurance goals, including one right at the final buzzer to complete his hat trick and the 7-4 Sea Wolves victory. 

Liarakos (3G-3A) erupted for six points in the game, while Yevdokimov (2G-2A) followed behind with four. 

Blake Weyrick’s 39 saves were good for his fifth win in net this season. Scott fell short between the pipes with the Sea Wolves scoring on seven of their 39 chances. 

The Sea Wolves and Rockers will play each other for the third consecutive time this Friday, April 14 in Fraser, Michigan. The action begins at 6:30pm Central Time at Big Boy Arena. Fans can view the game live on the Sea Wolves YouTube channel.


PORT HURON PROWLERS at WATERTOWN WOLVES 

 Prowlers Sweep the Weekend Series

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - For the second night of the weekend and fourth time this season, the Watertown Wolves and the Port Huron Prowlers battled on Saturday evening. It was the final home game of the regular season for the Wolves and they were looking to even the season series with the Prowlers, anf hopefully send the fans home on a high note. With the Prowlers winning the previous night 4-1, it would be a tall challenge for the Wolves.

Unlike Friday night, it only took 2:01 before the lamp would be lit for the first time as the Prowlers once again struck first when Liam Freeborn took the puck and wrapped around the back of the goal, and sent the puck off the inside of Wolves starter Adam Wisco's leg, put the Prowler up 1-0. Assists belonged to Sam Marit and Frank Schumacher.

At the 12:17 mark, Bryan Parsons added to the Port Huron lead on a power play blast from the top of the right circle, beating Wisco stick side over the shoulder. Joe Deveney would get the helper on the play.

Although Watertown out shot Port Huron 17-12, the Prowlers would take a 2-0 lead into the locker room after 20 minutes of play.

Just like on Friday evening, the second period would be a scoreless twenty minutes of action, but not without some outstanding play. The Wolves would again out shoot the Prowlers, this time 19-13 in the period including a blast from the right side that Prowlers keeper Ian Wallace was able to dive from right to left and glove and keep it a 2 goal lead.

Liam Freeborn would add his second goal of the night at 11:10 of the third period as he was able to get free about 8 feet out in front of the goal, and lifted a shot over the shoulder of Wisco to extend the lead to 3-0, assisted by Samuel Gagnon and Sam Marit.

Freeborn would add insult to injury when he was able to wrestle the puck away from Brandon Baker and get a short handed, wrap around, power play goal to make it 4-0.

With the win the Prowlers seal the regular season series versus the Wolves. The Prowlers outshot Watertown 15-10 in the third, making the totals 46-40 in favor of Watertown. The Prowlers would go 1 for 2 on the power play, while Watertown was 0-4.

The Wolves return to action on Wednesday as they travel to Elmira, NY to face the Mammoth. The Wolves will close out the regular season on the road at Delaware next Friday and Saturday.

The Prowlers will head home to host the Danbury Hat Tricks for the final weekend. 


BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at DELAWARE THUNDER

Black Bears Dominate the Thunder

by Jeff Heacock

Harrington, DE - The Delaware Thunder returned home from a tough game in Binghamton and lost for the second straight night to the Black Bears by a score of 8-5. 

The first period started out a little slow with the Thunder getting on the board first 15 minutes in on a goal by Marquis Grant-Mentis. Binghamton was able to knot the score just 7 seconds later when Jestin Somero put the Black Bears on the board. The score was knotted at 1 at the first intermission.

The scoring really opened up in the second period with Binghamton scoring early to take a 2-1 lead. Delaware tied it back up on a shorthanded goal by Grant-Mentis just over a minute later. Binghamton was able to regain the lead 3-2 just 20 seconds later. The Black Bears then received 2 more goals from Don Olivieri and Connor Smith to take a 5-2 lead with 4 minutes left in the second. The Thunder were able to get the next 2 goals after that from Houston Wilson and Charlie Bedard to narrow the score to 5-4 at the second intermission.

In the third period, Binghamton scored three straight from Yates, Somero and Newberg to take a big 8-4 lead late. Delaware was able to add the final goal in the closing seconds by Danila Milushkin to make the final score 8-5 Binghamton.

The Thunder close out the season next weekend at home against the Watertown Wolves for 2 games. 

Binghamton Sweeps Delaware 10-0-0 This Season


by Brooks Hill

Harrington, DE - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Delaware Thunder 8-5 on the road on Saturday night. Binghamton completes the season sweep of Delaware winning all 10 games this season in regulation.

Delaware started the scoring in the first period. Marquis Grant-Mentis shot a puck to the front to the net that deflected off a Black Bears skate, into the net. A quick response from Binghamton followed, as Jestin Somero scored on a odd-mad rush just seven seconds later. Binghamton was able to put 19 shots on goal but went to the locker room tied at 1-1. 

The floodgates burst open in the second period as both teams combined for seven goals. Andrew Logar gave the Black Bears the lead two minutes into the period, but Delaware returned the favor right back. Grant-Mentis scored on a shorthanded breakaway, that poked the metaphorical bears. Don Olivieri scored on the next two power plays, Connor Smith joined the fun as well, making 5-2 Binghamton with five remaining on the clock. 

Delaware began to mount a parital comeback scoring the final two goals of the period, making it a one-goal game going into the final period. Binghamton led 5-4 after outscoring Delaware, 4-3 in the second. 

The Black Bears made a switch in goal going into the third, Jeremie Forget played the final 20 minutes, stopping seven of eight shots. Talor Joseph received the win as the Black Bears were still leading when he exited the contest. Gavin Yates, Somero, and Josh Newberg all scored in the final period, as the Black Bears defeated the Thunder for the 10th and final time this season, 8-5. 

Binghamton will wrap up the regular season next weekend with a home-and-home season against the Elmira Mammoth Friday and Saturday night. The Black Bears wrap up their home schedule on Saturday at 7:00P.M. for Fan Appreciation Night. Tickets are still available at binghamtonblackbears.com/tickets



ELMIRA MAMMOTH at DANBURY HAT TRICKS 

Hat Tricks Four Goals in the Third Were the Difference

by Chris Lynch

Danbury, CT - The Danbury Hat Tricks concluded their home regular season with a thrilling 8-5 win over the Elmira Mammoth. Michael Marchesan led the way with a four goal game, the third such game in Danbury Hat Tricks franchise history. He added an assist as well, resulting in a five point total. Lucas DeBenedet added two goals and three assists for five points as well, giving Marchesan and DeBenedet the fourth and fifth such games in franchise history. 

Danbury recorded four goals through the first two periods thanks to one each from Marchesan and DeBenedet plus a goal from Jacob Ratcliffe, who added four points of his own, and a shorthanded goal from Daniel McKitrick. 

Dalton Anderson opened the Mammoth’s scoring work mid-way through the first. Former Hat Trick Luke Richards helped Mammoth in the game with two goals and two assists, even aiding Elmira to a 3-2 lead on a Nathan Campbell goal early in the second period. Danbury answered with two late in the second and led into the third. 

Richards scored his second goal of the game 55 seconds into the final stanza to tie the game. It stayed tied until Michael Marchesan scored two goals in a 1:44 long stretch of the game that sandwiched a Steven Ford goal for the Mammoth. 

DeBenedet and Marchesan added one more goal each to close the scoring at 8-5 and the Hat Tricks secured their 42nd win of the season and sowed up the Federal Prospects Hockey League’s Regular Season Championship, the first in Hat Tricks’ franchise history and second in Danbury’s professional hockey history across all franchises who have occupied the Danbury Ice Arena. The 2015-16 Danbury Titans were the first such team in Hat City’s history to win their league-wide regular season crown. 

Brian Wilson recorded 32 saves on 37 shots faced. 

Elmira falls to 14-33-6, sitting in fourth place in the Empire Division. Thomas Proudlock stopped 52 of 59 shots. The Mammoth face Watertown on Wednesday in a make up of a game postponed from November. Puck drops at First Arena at 7:35 PM. 

Danbury rounds out the regular season with a two-game road trip to face the Port Huron Prowlers at McMorran Arena on Friday, April 14th and Saturday, April 15th.