Game Recaps 2/2/25

MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at WATERTOWN WOLVES

Wolves Edge Sea Wolves

by Jeff Barrett



Watertown, NY - The fifth and final meeting of the regular season between the Watertown Wolves and Mississippi Sea Wolves was on tap for an afternoon matchup in Watertown this Sunday. Following Saturday night's 9-4 Wolves win, Watertown looked to sweep the weekend.

For the second night in a row, the Wolves would get on the board first when Marc Bottero was able to slap home a rebound past Sea Wolves starter Richie Parent at the 4:37 mark. Assists on the goal belonged to Bryce Dirscherl and Carter Thornton.

Watertown outshot the Sea Wolves 17-11 in the first twenty minutes and held the 1-0 lead at the break.

Ross Bartlett knocked home a rebound at 3:14 of the second period, beating Watertown starter Anton Borodkin, giving the Sea Wolves their first goal of the night, knotting the game at 1-1. Assists on the goal belonged to Lucas Piekarczyk and Phillip Wong.

Davide Gaeta put the Wolves back in front at 5:23 of the frame with his fourth goal of the weekend , putting Watertown back in front 2-1.

At 15:28 of the period, Kyle Powell was able to lift a shot to the top of the cage that was originally waved off by the nearest official. While the Wolves stopped and celebrated, the Sea Wolves continued to keep playing and went down and scored what they thought was the tying goal, but during the ensuing stoppage, the officials came over and watched the replay that clearly showed that the Powell goal was good, so the Wolves ended up with the 3-1 lead after all.

The Sea Wolves' Ross Bartlett wasn't done just yet, as he would nab his second goal of the night, tightening the score to 3-2 at the 17:07 mark.

Watertown continued to outshoot the Sea Wolves, this time 17-15 in the second.

At the 8:57 ;point of the third, Tate Leeson was able to extend the Wolves lead to 4-2. Assists on the goal would go to Marc Bottero and Carter Thornton.

But just 2 minutes later the Sea Wolves again closed the gap to 4-3 on a Cutis Hanson goal, assisted by Phillip Wong and Lucas Piekarczyk.

The Wolves would hold on through a wild scramble killing off a couple of Sea Wolves power plays, and held on for the 4-3 win.

Next weekend the Wolves travel to Poughkeepsie, NY to take on the HC Venum at the McCann Ice Arena on Friday night, while the Mississippi Sea Wolves will head to Columbus, GA to battle the River Dragons on Friday and Saturday -nights.

Wolves Sweep Mississippi, 4-3

by Jon Kliment



Watertown, NY - The Sea Wolves and Watertown met up for the final time this season Sunday afternoon. The Wolves secured the season series Saturday night as they put 9 goals on Mississippi's netminder for a 9-4 win. The Sea Wolves came out looking for a game to build on before going to Columbus next weekend.

Watertown had four power play opportunities in period one, but their success came at even strength as Marc Bottero took the puck to the side of the night and after putting his initial attempt off the goalies pad tucked the rebound behind him for the 1-0 lead just 4:37 into the game.

Mississippi came out firing in the second period however as Ross Bartlett put himself in front of the net deflecting a Lucas Piekarczyk shot behind Borodkin to tie things up on the power play at 1-1 just 3:14 into the period. Watertown responded with power play markers of their own as Davide Gaeta tipped a Kyle Powell shot past Parent 2:09 later to take the lead back. Later in the period Powell snapped a second shot from inside the circle and beat Parent high for a 3-1 lead for the Wolves. The Sea Wolves answered back again as Ross Bartlett brought the puck out from the corner and on a backhand tucked it behind Borodkin to cut the lead to 3-2.

Tate Leeson scored 8:57 into the third period to make it a 4-2 lead. 1:49 later Philip Wong came down on a two on one and dropped a pass to Curtis Hansen to bring Mississippi back to within one, but that was as close as it would get.

Parent stopped 47 of 51 in the loss.

Mississippi heads to Columbus next weekend for a two game set. Follow along on Youtube! 

BATON ROUGE ZYDECO at ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS

Rodrigue’s First Professional Shutout Muzzles Zydeco to Complete Sweep

by Matteen Zibanejadrad



Athens, GA - The Athens Rock Lobsters defeated the Baton Rouge Zydeco 3-0 in the Sunday finale of a three-game set on Pucks and Paws Day in Akins Ford Arena. Dominic Rodrigue kept a shutout, stopping 25 shots to secure the weekend sweep and a nine-point weekend for Athens.

It took nearly half the game to find its first goal, as Malik Johnson swept home a rebound off of a Kyle Russell shot at the 7:01 mark of the second period.

With eight minutes to go in regulation, the nerves of the dogs and owners in the building were settled down as Filip Virgili batted a backhander through the five-hole of Breandan Colgan.

The spoils were secured after the Zydeco rolled the dice and emptied Colgan out of his net; Orca Wiesblatt converted into a defenseless cage after taking the puck away at center ice.

Rodrigue let nothing tickle the twine behind him, keeping his first professional shutout in just his second career game. 

The Rock Lobsters (22-4-2, 59 pts) return to Akins Ford Arena for a Wednesday-night battle against the Columbus River Dragons. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m. 

Zydeco Fall to Rock Lobsters

by Bryan Flores



Athens, GA - Akins Ford Arena continues to be a haunted house for the Baton Rouge Zydeco in their last game of the weekend before their bye week.

The first period was eventful if you were a D man or a goaltender as Dominik Rodrigue and Breandan Colgan went beat for beat saving high danger area chances left and right. The Zydeco had a couple chances that were stuffed by the netminder and the Rock Lobsters had rushes thwarted by the Zydeco backcheck rush. 

The second period is where the scoring started, but it wouldn’t be until half way through the middle frame when Malik Johnson off the face off would force the puck in front of Colgan and net one home making it 1-0 Lobsters midway through the second. That would be the only goal scored as both goaltenders shut the door through 40 minutes of play.

In the third period a blocked shot that went on the stick of Filip Virgilli and he would slam it home making it 2-0 Lobsters. The Zydeco would be denied time and time again from Rodrigue and the total shot volume from the Zydeco seemingly did not increase as they were outshot in the game 44-25. Finally, with the net pulled and on the Power Play, a costly turnover at center ice gave Orca Wiesblatt a clear look at the net and he would put the game to rest making it 3-0 the final score as Dominik Rodrigue would shut the door earning the shutout.

Winning goaltender Dominic Rodrigue earns his first career shutout and earns his 2nd win of the season after saving all 25 shots on the night.

On the other side losing goaltender Breandon Colgan saved 41/43 for a SV% of a 0.950 after a very spirited game against the Lobsters, his record falls to 14-8-0-2. 

Next week will be a bye for the Zydeco as they look to rebound from this three game sweep against their cross state opponents, the Monroe Moccasins. 

DANBURY HAT TRICKS vs HC VENOM

John Moriarty Makes 45 Saves, but Venom Fall to Hat Tricks 5-4

by Ben Leeds 

Poughkeepsie, NY - John Moriarty made 45 saves, but the HC Venom fell short, dropping an exciting 5-4 decision to the Danbury Hat Tricks at McCann Ice Arena.

Danila Belov and Lester Brown led the way offensively for the Venom with two goals each, while Ivan Ponivanov tallied three assists. Cory Anderson had two goals for Danbury, including the game-winner at 3:09 of the third period. Frankie McClendon got the win with 26 saves. 

The Venom scored the game's first goal at 7:53 of the first period on their second shot of the afternoon. Brown skated in and unleashed a wrist shot that deflected off of McClendon’s glove and got past him. They added to the lead shortly after, thanks to Belov.

Belov entered the zone with Brett Jackson on a two-on-one and beat McClendon over his blocker to give the Venom a 2-0 lead at 10:56. It was short-lived, Danbury’s Zach Pamaylaon found the back of the net only 45 seconds later.

Danbury scored the equalizer when Chase Harwell picked up a rebound and sent it past the lunging Moriarty at 17:08 on the power play. The Hat Tricks took the lead before the period came to a close; Jacob Ratcliffe slammed a one-timer on a pass from Aleksandr Vasilyev with 28 seconds left in the period.

The Hat Tricks picked up right where they left off after the intermission. Anderson pushed the lead to two at 3:00, but the Venom did not back down. 

Dzianis Zaichyk sent a perfect pass to Belov in front, where he deposited his second goal of the game at 4:43. The Venom evened it up on a beautiful coast-to-coast goal from Brown, who went the length of the ice untouched to score and fire up the home crowd with his ninth goal of the season at 11:19.

Though the goals got the crowd into it, the star of the period was Moriarty. The goalie saved 23 of 24 shots in the second, including numerous spectacular stops to kill a double-minor penalty for high sticking at 14:53.

His best save came when the puck trickled past Moriarty, who spun around and dove to snag the puck before it rolled across the goal line while numerous players from each side converged.

Danbury took the lead early in the third period at 3:09 on Anderson’s second of the night and never looked back. The Hat Tricks effectively controlled the puck and pace of the game the rest of the way, en route to a 5-4 victory.

The Venom had a chance to tie it back up when Jordan Popoff went to the box for interference at 17:45. Stavros Soilis had a high-percentage chance out in front of the net, but McClendon made a crucial save to preserve the lead.

The victory marked Danbury’s fourth in a row, while the Venom’s losing streak extended to seven.

The Venom will take the ice next on Friday at 7:15 when they play host to the Watertown Wolves at the McCann Ice Arena.

Hat Tricks Sweep Weekend Trio with Venom, Win Fourth Straight

by Wyatt Kopelman



Poughkeepsie, NY - Cory Anderson got a head start on celebrating his birthday, scoring twice in a 5-4 win for the Hat Tricks against HC Venom at McCann Ice Arena on Sunday.

The third-year winger turns 31 years old tomorrow and potted the game-winning goal at 3:09 of the third period, sliding home a second-chance opportunity in the slot. Anderson helped Danbury to its first four-game win streak since March 29 of last season.

Anderson scored his first goal of the afternoon three minutes into the second as he tucked in a free puck to increase Danbury’s lead to 4-2.

But the Hat Tricks squandered their advantage in the third.

Danila Belov scored in the slot 4:43 into the second, trimming the lead to 4-3. Lester Brown then evened the game at four on his second goal of the game with 8:41 to go in the middle frame.

The final game of the three-game weekend set between the Hat Tricks and the Venom started fast, as HC Venom capitalized on early takeaways.

Brown snuck in a wrist shot underneath the crossbar for the Venom’s 1-0 lead at 7:53 of the first. Belov then doubled the lead with a wrist shot from the left circle 3:03 later.

Yet, Danbury kickstarted the offensive momentum it needed, scoring four unanswered goals to climb out of the two-goal deficit.

Zachary Pamaylaon scored on an odd-man rush at 11:39, cutting the lead to 2-1. A deflected puck in the crease gave Chase Harwell a goal in his third straight game, tying the game at two.

With hardly 30 seconds left in the opening frame, Jacob Ratcliffe buried a cross-ice pass from the left circle, lifting the Hat Tricks ahead 3-2.

Frankie McClendon made 26 saves, including a game-saving stop from shot in the crease with 2:39 remaining. McClendon won his second straight start, improving to 4-1-1.

The Hat Tricks pushed their point streak to eight games (7-0-1) and won their first of the season when tied after two periods (1-0-2). Danbury has won six straight against the Venom and six of the first seven in the Battle of 84.

Up next, Danbury returns home to host the Dashers on Friday for the start of a two-game set. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.