Game Recaps 3/15/25

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS


McAnanama Shuts the Door


by Brooks Hill


Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Carolina Thunderbirds 1-0 on Saturday night in the only matchup of the season. Connor McAnanama recorded his fourth shutout of the season, stopping all 26 shots he faced. 


In perhaps the most anticipated matchup of the season, the two finalists from last year met on the ice for the only time. Carolina and Binghamton had not played since May 10th of last year during the cup finals. In a playoff-like atmosphere, both teams traded chances early. Carolina had the only power play of the period but failed to convert. Binghamton had the shot advantage 12-7, but the two sides went to the locker room searching for the first goal. 


In period number two, Binghamton would be the side to break the ice. Austin Thompson picked a corner right off the faceoff 1:27 into the period. That proved to be the only goal of the game. Carolina had two more power play chances that frame but could not crack Connor McAnanama. Binghamton carried a 1-0 lead into the locker room. 


Carolina pushed hard, early in the third searching for the equalizer. On the other hand, Binghamton was attempting to find the insurance goal. Neither side was successful as both netminders dueled the rest of the game. Mario Cavaliere made 34 saves in a losing effort, and McAnanama earned his fourth shutout of the season, making 26 saves in goal. 


Binghamton wins the only rematch of the season, 1-0. 



DASHERS of DANVILLE at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES


Sea Wolves Find The Luck O' The Irish, Defeat Dashers 4-2


by Jon Kliment



Biloxi, MS - The Sea Wolves entered Saturday night's contest looking to continue pushing along a winning streak something they hadn't been able to do all season by capping off another season first a series win over the Dashers. In a three game series it takes two wins to get the job done and behind Ed Coffey Mississippi hoped to be able to do that.


The first period was fairly even all the way through, but the Sea Wolves found the back of the net first at 16:31 of the first as Blake Keller found an open Curtis Hansen deep in the zone who threw the puck to Isiah Parris in front of the net for the 1-0 lead.


In what looked like a replay from last night the Dashers found a way to get things done in the second period. Tonight it was Alex Marchisello in his third game finding a way to put a puck behind Ed Coffey 17:54 into the second frame. 


After a quiet first two periods midway through the third period the scoring began to roll in. The Dashers found the back of the net on a Blake Siewertsen tip but it was played with a high stick and after review overturned. Just a few minutes last the Sea Wolves found a way to push a puck through traffic as Lucas Piekarczyk tipped a Sam Turner shot home for a 2-1 lead. 2:57 later Noah Hippolyte-Smith came out of the corner and buried one behind Parker Rutherford for a 3-1 lead. With the goalie pulled Blake Keller sent a shot from the red line and increased the lead to 4-1. Just 10 seconds later on a mishandle Coffey sent the puck out front and former Sea Wolf Ilnur Madiarov tucked the puck into an empty net to bring the Dashers back to within two goals 4-2.


Coffey stopped 35 of 37 in his 5th win of the season.


The Sea Wolves finish their 10 game home stand tomorrow at 4:05pm. 



Sea Wolves Prevail Late in Roller Coaster Affair


by Devin Dobek



Biloxi, MS - After an entertaining tilt last night, FPHL fans around the world couldn’t wait for a second dose of Sea Wolves and Dashers. In a war of attrition, Ed Coffey’s 35 save effort with a flurry of Wolves goals in the final 5 would be just enough to oust the Dashers 4-2 on Saturday night.


Yesterday was an entertaining battle, and one the Dashers certainly thought they could’ve had. Heading into their 3rd game in 3 days, their goal was to harness their second period from yesterday for a whole 60. The Wolves came out firing once again, accumulating 5 shots in the first 2:30 alone. Rutherford was sharp, making his third start in 3 days for the Deer. Mississippi continued to control the tempo until the first penalty of the game, opening the door for the Dashers to take the lead. After going ⅛ in the loss yesterday on the man advantage, special teams would certainly be an x-factor for the Dashers in this affair. There were some good chances generated, but Ed Coffey made save after save through traffic and bodies flying everywhere. However, the Wolves would find a way to respond in the form of Isiah Parris finishing a 2 on 1 from Curtis Hansen for his first since being acquired. The score would hold at 1-0 heading into the break, with Mississippi leading 13-11 in shots. 


Period two was an aggressive, back and forth battle from start to finish. Everybody was finishing their checks and making extra efforts to extend plays. Despite where both teams resided in the standings, they both clearly wanted this one more than others. It looked like things could take a turn for the worse for the visitors when Mississippi drew a 5-on-3 after an early hold and slash were assessed. The Dashers killed it off but not without a couple scary moments with the puck trickling through the crease. Both teams wanted that next goal, knowing how much weight it would hold. Bodies were flying everywhere, including benches and goaltenders. It was really a game where you needed to keep your head up. But still the score stayed 1-0 all the way to the final couple minutes. A turnover at the Dasher blue line sprung Blake Siewertsen and co into an odd man opportunity. Blake’s pass across didn’t get through, but instead dropped perfectly to 29 year old rookie Alex Marchisello playing in just his 13th FPHL game. Marchisello beat Coffey inside the near post for his first FPHL goal to tie the hockey game with 2 minutes to go in the frame. Inside the final 5 seconds, Zach Slinger drew a penalty which would set the Dashers up to start period 3 on the man advantage. 20 more minutes, would the streak prevail, or could the Dashers break the curse?


The third period was another roller coaster of emotions between both teams in a tooth and nail 1-1 tilt. The ride began when Sean Doyle banged a shot that was tipped home by Blake Siewertsen to give the Dashers a 2-1 advantage around the midway point. Upon further review, the officials deemed that Siewertsen’s stick was high, and the goal was taken off the scoreboard. But still it was anyone’s game. Rutherford and Coffey were brilliant in the contest, 1-upping each other with brilliant save after brilliant save at either end. Around the 5 minute mark, a similar shot from the point by Sam Turner was deflected home by Lucas Piekarczyk, putting Mississippi back in the driver’s seat in the closing moments. A collective groan could be heard from Dasher Nation hundreds of miles away, but still there was time. 3 minutes later, Noah Hippolyte-Smith finished a hard net drive to beat Rutherford again and it was 3-1. A Sam Turner empty netter put the game officially out of reach at 4-1, but the silver lining moment was a strong Yosuke Jumonji forecheck to feed Ilnur Madiarov for his first pro goal to cement the score at 4-2. The Dashers outshot the Sea Wolves 37-35 in full time, with 19 of those shots coming in the final frame of the heartbreaking loss. 


The two teams will battle tomorrow one last time at 4:05 CST inside the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.



MONROE MOCCASINS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS 


RIVER DRAGONS COMPLETE WEEKEND SWEEP OF MOCCASINS

Daae, Wickline Record Three Point Nights


by Tom Callahan



Columbus, GA -Austin Daae scored once and added two assists while Cody Wickline picked up three helpers as the Columbus River Dragons beat the Monroe Moccasins 5-1 on Saturday night.


Columbus scored four goals in the first period, putting Monroe in a hole from which they could not climb out. Daae started the scoring at 4:42 of the first period, followed by Tristan Reid’s first pro goal at 10:39. Alex Storjohann and Justin MacDonald added singles to wrap the period.


In the third the teams traded goals, with Monroe’s lone goal coming off the stick of Yianni Liarakos while Alexander Jmaeff cemented the win for the River Dragons.

Matt Petizian made a successful return from IR with 34 saves to earn the win.


Notes:

  • Eleven River Dragons players totaled at least a point in the game.
  • Wickline tallied his third three-point game of the season. It’s also the second time this year he’s recorded three assists in a game.
  • Petizian earned his first win since February 7 against Mississippi in his first game action in over a month. 
  • Daae’s 1-2-3 performance was his second of the season, with the first happening February 8 against Mississippi.


The River Dragons are back on the road this Friday and Saturday night in Carolina against the Thunderbirds before returning home for a three-game set with the HC Venom March 28, 29 and 30. Tickets are on sale for all remaining River Dragons home games through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.



HC VENOM at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS 


'Cats Dominate Venom In 6-1 Win, Move Into 4th Place Tie


by Brett Wiseman



Wytheville, VA - Refusing to repeat what they felt was one that slipped away, the Blue Ridge Bobcats came out flying and manhandled HC Venom en route to a complete 6-1 win, and with Baton Rouge's loss to Athens move into a tie for 4th place in the Continental Division.


Rookie-C netminder Anthony Shrum picked up first star honors and a 25-save victory in his professional debut between the pipes for the Bobcats, who tightened up defensively in front of their young goaltender.


Egor Ramanau opened the scoring in his return to the lineup, starting the Blue Ridge scoring onslaught late in the first. The Belarusian blueliner used his tremendous skate edge work to hold the puck onside, reverse sides an snipe a shot from the wing off the pad of John Moriarty and in for his third tally of the season.


Exactly 60 seconds later, the Bobcats struck on the man advantage thanks to Carson Andreoli, who deflected a shot from the point in front of the net off Moriarty and then shoveled the rebound high over top and right under the crossbar to double the Blue Ridge lead entering the middle frame.


Nick McHugh wasted no time less than two minutes into the second, dusting past Venom defenders and dangling a backhander past Moriarty for the 'Cats third of the evening. Dzianis Zaichyk answered with his second goal in as many nights, but it would be the only blemish for Shrum in his pro debut.


Just five minutes after the Venom pulled within a pair, captain Danny Martin notched his second man advantage marker in as many nights, in nearly identical fashion to Andreoli's power play tally.


The only scoring of the third came from the Autism Awareness tie-dye sweater clad 'Cats, who powered home a pair of goals in a 4:20 span to seal the deal.


While on a major penalty power play, Mike Mercurio notched his second in as many nights, tapping in a beautiful backdoor saucer pass from Hunter Godmere to give the raucous crowd of nearly 2,000 at Hitachi Energy Arena free Skeeter's Hot Dogs for their forthcoming Sunday.


Godmere was then on the receiving end of a backdoor feed, this time from Daniel Klinecky for the exclamation point on a full 60 minute effort.


Godmere and Andreoli earned third and second stars respectively for each recording a goal and two assists on the night.


The Bobcats now head to Akins Ford Arena tomorrow night for the season series finale with the division rival Athens Rock Lobsters. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:05 p.m., with coverage on BobcatsTV and 96.5 WCGX "The Cat" beginning at 5:50 p.m. 



MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at PORT HURON PROWLERS 


Fast Start Helps Prowlers Win Battle of I-94


by Will Weigelman



Port Huron, MI - The Port Huron Prowlers have won the 2024-25 edition of the Battle of I-94 after a 7-3 win over the Motor City Rockers on March 15 at McMorran Place. Lukas Lacny led the way with Port Huron’s second hat trick of the season.


“This trophy is for our fans,” said Prowlers assistant coach Chris Paulin. “They’ve supported us all year, they’re the best fans in the league and this means a lot to the fanbase. Obviously, no one liked it when they were parading their cup around last year so this one was for our fans. The boys know we have something bigger ahead.”


One team was ready for puck drop and it was the Prowlers. After Motor City took an early penalty, Tucker Scantlebury took a shot that Ricardo Gonzalez got most of, but not enough, and it landed behind him in the net. 1:40 later, Lacny put himself on the highlight reel as he moved in alone on Gonzalez. As the Rockers netminder went for a poke check, the Slovakian forward pulled the puck between his legs to make it 2-0.


Port Huron continued to push. Just under nine minutes into the game, Lacny found Ludwig Thellström for his seventh of the year. 37 seconds later, Matt Graham was the benefactor of a rebound from a Reggie Millette shot bouncing off of him and in and it was 4-0 less than 10 and a half minutes in.


Motor City reset and started to push back in the second. Sam Gagnon found Hunter Hall in the left-wing circle for his first goal as a Rocker. The Prowlers got into penalty trouble throughout the middle frame and Ryan Rotondi put home his first of the season at the side of the crease.


“I thought we started losing some races in the second period,” Paulin said. “We didn’t have the same jump and same discipline in defensive zone coverage.”


Lacny put the game out of reach early in the third. Two and a half minutes into the final period, he picked off a clearing attempt, turned towards the net and ripped a shot high glove for a power play goal. A few minutes later, Reggie Millette sent a seam pass to Lacny and he one-timed it for the hat trick strike. 


Jameson Milam got one back for the Rockers on a power play, but Jamie Bucell put the icing on the cake with under two to go as the Prowlers beat the Rockers 7-3 for the second time this season.


Lacny led the way with five points on three goals and two assists. Graham added a pair of helpers to his tally while Millette and Austin Fetterly dished out three apples each. Valtteri Nousiainen extended his win streak to four starts after a 24-save performance.


“[Lacny] is a dynamic player, one of the best players in the league,” Paulin said. “Humble guy, awesome hockey player and you have to give credit to his linemates. I thought Reggie had some unbelievable passes tonight, looks that nobody in the league would find. Graham is also a huge contributor to that success.”


Hall finished with a goal and an assist while Gonzalez made 40 stops.


The Prowlers have a pair of home games next weekend as they welcome in HC Venom and the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Puck drop at McMorran Place is scheduled for 7:05 P.M. both nights and tickets are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.



ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO 


Zydeco Loses a Nail Biter


by Bryan Flores


Baton Rouge, LA - After dropping yesterday to the Rock Lobsters the. Zydeco are looking to capture some points against Athens before heading out on the road again.  

 

In the first period the Rock Lobsters had a look on net as for the second straight game Daniil Glukharev found Orca Weisblatt just 5:09 making it 1-0 Zydeco. The Rock Lobsters had a couple more power play chances that got killed off by the Zydeco keeping it at 1-0.

 

The second period would find the Zydeco would find the tying goal just 5 minutes into the middle frame after a cycle from Shane Haggerty and a beautiful pass from Jake Cox to Scott Shorrock tying the game at 1-1. Later on in the period at 12:06 Glukharev would find Millan who would pass out to Weisblatt for his second goal of the game making it 2-1 Lobsters. That is where the game would sit after two periods.

 

In the third the Rock Lobsters would find the goal off a fast sequence from the stick of Malik Johnson to the assist of Kayson Gallant and Filip Virgili making it 3-1 Lobsters. The Zydeco would get a couple of late power play chances but to no eval as Athens would hang on and come out with the win remaining perfect against the Zydeco.

 

Winning goaltender Josh Rosenzweig saves 35 of 36 for a 0.972s% and a lot of great moments in between the pipes as he earns his 18th win of the season, improving his record to 18-6-1

 

Losing goaltender Sammy Bernard stood on his head and made some stellar saves but after saving 34 of 37 earns a final save percentage of a 0.919% falling to a record of 17-9-2 

 

Next weekend is a series against the Blue Ridge Bobcats in Virginia which will most likely be a preview to the play in round. This series could be pivotal in deciding where the game will be held! Big game! You can catch it live on Zydeco TV at 7:30 EST on YouTube! 



Rock Lobsters Gain Ground in Continental With Win in the Bayou


by Matteen Zibanejadrad


Baton Rouge, LA - The Athens Rock Lobsters defeated the Baton Rouge Zydeco 3-1 Saturday night in Raising Cane’s River Center.


Keeping his hand hot, Orca Wiesblatt found himself in the net with the puck after converting through the five-hole of Sammy Bernard five minutes into the contest.


It took nearly 20 minutes of play, but Scott Shorrock formulated a response for the Zydeco in the second period flipping a backhand into the Athens net.


Milan worked his magic as only he could at the 12:06 mark of the middle 20, sliding a no-look feed toward Wiesblatt for the Killer Whale’s second of the night.


Athens created some comfort as Malik Johnson one-timed a Kayson Gallant dropped pass into the top shelf in the opening moments of the third period.


Both goaltenders shone in the matchup, but Josh Rosenzweig took home the win and stopped 35 shots in the process.


Having a chance now to tie Carolina on points with their two games at hand, the Rock Lobsters (35-7-3, 98 pts) return to Akins Ford Arena Sunday night to try and exact revenge against the Blue Ridge Bobcats.