Game Recaps 4/3/25

BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS 

Binghamton Split the Series in Athens’ Final Home Game of Regular Season

by Matteen Zibanejadrad

Athens, GA - The Athens Rock Lobsters fell 4-1 in the final home game of their regular season, as the Binghamton Black Bears split the series with the hometown team.

The visitors took the lead 1:17 into the contest through Gavin Yates and didn’t relinquished the lead after that.

Athens conceded on a late first-period power play, as Blake Tosto converted on a shorthanded breakaway.

Hope emerged for the Rock Lobsters in the second period, as Garrett Milan danced into the slot and fired past rookie goaltender CJ Hapward.

Fighting for an equalizer, two late third-period goals from Austin Thompson made three points a certainty for the Black Bears.

The Rock Lobsters (42-9-3, 118 pts) travel to Columbus, Ga. to finish off the regular season against the Columbus River Dragons.

COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at MONROE MOCCASINS 

MOCCASINS DROP HEARTBREAKER IN SHOOTOUT, FALL 4-3 TO RIVER DRAGONS

by Joseph Furtado

Monroe, LA - The Monroe Moccasins and Columbus River Dragons delivered a high-intensity, playoff-like battle Thursday night, but in the end, Columbus came out on top with a 4-3 shootout victory at Monroe Civic Center.

The River Dragons (25-15-4-4-1, 90 points) extended their dominance over Monroe, claiming their fifth consecutive victory against the Moccasins (17-21-8-1-3, 70 points).

The action-packed showdown had everything. Columbus struck first on the power play at 9:03 of the first period, with Alex Storjohann hammering home a shot from the slot. The Moccasins answered immediately as Hugo Koch buried a feed from Yianni Liarakos just 37 seconds later. Minutes later Corey Cunningham capitalized on a crisp setup from Seth Bacon to make it 2-1.

Columbus refused to back down, and with just under five minutes left in the first, Storjohann struck again on the man advantage knotting the game at 2-2. The River Dragons carried that momentum into the second period, where Alexander Jmaeff slipped it past Sean Kuhn to put Columbus back on top 3-2.

Just over three minutes later, Liarakos found the net off a rebound, tying the game at 3-3. From there, both teams traded scoring chances, but neither side could find the go-ahead goal in a nail-biting third period or overtime, setting the stage for a shootout. In the skills shootout Columbus Austin Daae was the hero, scoring the lone goal to seal as Trevor Babin stopped all three Monroe shooters.

Monroe will look to bounce back Friday night in Game 2 of this three-game series as their playoff push continues.

RIVER DRAGONS NAB SHOOTOUT WIN AT MONROE

Storjohann Scores Twice on Power Play

by Tom Callahan

Monroe, LA - Alex Storjohann scored a pair of power play goals and Trevor Babin stopped all three shooters faced in the shootout to secure a 4-3 win for the Columbus River Dragons over the Monroe Moccasins on Thursday night.

Both of Storjohann’s goals came in the first period as Columbus scored on its first two power play attempts of the night. The first was a wrist shot from the right circle over the shoulder of Mocs goaltender Sean Kuhn (29 saves), and the second a deflection of a Justin MacDonald pass from the slot over the shoulder of Kuhn once again.

Rookie Joel Texmo scored at 1:43 of the second period to record his first pro goal, one-timing a pass from Alexander Jmaeff to give Columbus a 3-2 lead. But as they had previously, Monroe responded to tie the game and eventually force overtime and then a shootout.

It was there that Austin Daae scored the only goal in the top of the third round as Babin (32 saves) went three-for-three in saves to give Columbus the extra point.

The River Dragons and Moccasins play twice more in the series, with the next contest coming tomorrow night at 8 pm ET. Catch the River Dragons pregame show on the team’s YouTube channel @ColumbusRiverDragons starting 15 minutes prior to puck drop.