AUGUSTA, GA – Based on the team versus team stats page, the Augusta RiverHawks played the Columbus Cottonmouths in a manner that would make outside observers wonder which was the established team and which was the expansion club. During the regular season, Augusta won seven of the nine meetings including three overtime contests.
Friday night, all of those numbers will be thrown out the window when the RiverHawks and Cottonmouths drop the puck on game one of the best-of-three SPHL playoffs semifinal series at the James Brown Arena. The slate will be clean and the teams will be 0-0 against each other as they battle for a trip to the finals.
“We certainly did not dominate Columbus. They have been a tough team to play against all year,”
Augusta%27s Ryan Olidis (77%2C left) scores on Pensacola%27s Ryan Scott during the RiverHawks%27 game three victory (PHN Photo by Stephanie Simpers)
The second-seeded RiverHawks hold the home ice advantage for the series. Columbus knows the horrors of the James Brown Arena all too well. The fourth-seeded Cottonmouths visited Augusta five times and lost each time. They came close on the final weekend of the regular season, falling to the RiverHawks in overtime on March 25th. Things were a bit more even back at the Columbus Civic Center where the teams split four games with both of the Augusta wins at the Snake Pit coming in overtime.
Augusta outscored Columbus 30-23 in the season series but take away the three extra-time goals and the margin shrinks to 27-24. The aggregate shots on net count was also quite close as the RiverHawks out-shot the Cottonmouths 273-264 – a margin of just one shot per game difference. The special teams battle was dominated by each squad’s penalty killing units as Columbus mustered six goals in 53 chances for a success rate of 11.3 percent while Augusta went 5-for-50 for a 10 percent scoring mark with the man advantage.
There was a differential of 19 points between Augusta and Columbus in the individual player scoring stats. The Cottonmouths had 15 different players tally at least a point against the RiverHawks. Leading the way were forwards Daryl Moore (five goals, two assists) and
Columbus%27 Jesse Cole and his teammates defeated defending champ huntsville in the first round (PHN photo by Stephanie Simpers)
Augusta’s offensive attack against Columbus was led by right winger Egor Mironov. Mironov had five goals and six assists for 11 points. He got plenty of help as 20 other players who wore a RiverHawks jersey during the season scored. Neil Graham (three goals, five assists), Branden Kosolofsky (three goals, four assists), Jason Price (three goals, three assists) and Matt Auffrey (two goals, four assists) all had success.
The goaltending comparison may be where the biggest disparity lies. Of the four net minders used by Brad Ralph, Jon Olthuis was clearly Augusta’s best. Against Columbus, Olthuis posted a 3-1 record in five games played with a sterling 1.85 goals against average and a save percentage of .934. Peter Skoggard played one game against the Cottonmouths and won the contest in overtime while allowing three goals in 60:59 of action.
On the other side of the ice, Columbus’ Ian Vigier started six of the nine meetings between the two teams. He went 1-5 in those games with a 3.30 goals against and a .887 save percentage. Andrew Loewen had a 1-2 record in the other three contests with a 2.92 goals against and a save percentage of .905.
Columbus head coach Jerome Bechard couldn’t pinpoint anything particular that Augusta did to warrant the disparity in the win-loss record between the teams.
“(Augusta did) nothing special. We just haven’t played well against them,” Bechard said. “Maybe a couple of injuries at key times (and) stuff like that.”
2011 has already been a successful one for Columbus. The Cottonmouths hadn’t won a playoff series since capturing the inaugural President’s Cup in 2005 and their first round opponent this time around was the defending champion Huntsville Havoc.
Before the series, Bechard said that the match-up with the Havoc was a good one for Columbus. The Snakes had played well down the stretch and even the prospect of playing games in Huntsville’s practice rink didn’t phase the Cottonmouths. They marched in and swept the Havoc in two straight to advance.
“Well we played hard at both ends of the ice (and) won a lot of the little battles,” Bechard said. “We were cognizant of the little things but we were doing that well before the Huntsville series.”
Augusta’s first round series with Pensacola ended up being a little tougher than it looked on paper. Game one was a thorough and convincing home victory for the RiverHawks but game two in Pensacola was a different story. The Ice Flyers showed a lot of moxie and gutted out a win to force a deciding game three. With the series final game at home, Augusta took a tight game and exploded for four unanswered goals in the last 20:24 of the contest to win with ease.
Ralph said that he and his team learned quite a bit from the Pensacola series.
“We learned that not only the schedule will be tough but the other teams play tougher too. (The) playoffs are a new season and teams change their style of play mainly because emotions are running high,” he said. “I was proud of our team for sticking to it and showing that they would not be beaten without a fight. There were times during the third game versus Pensacola that we were on our heels and it seemed like they (Pensacola) had more energy and jump but we stuck with it and pulled off a character win.”
With both teams playing confidently at the right time, both coaches know that it will be the little things that will decide the outcome. For Bechard, his focus is on getting his Cottonmouths to go stride-for-stride and hit-for-hit with the RiverHawks without being intimidated.
“We have to match Augusta’s speed and tenacity,” Bechard said. “They also play very physical. We have to play physical as well but stay disciplined.”
Over on the other bench, Ralph is also preaching discipline.
“Columbus is a very disciplined team not only in terms of penalties but also within their systems and positional play,” Ralph said. “If we stay focused, control our emotions and do the simple things right like getting pucks out (of our end) and getting pucks deep (into their end), we will have a chance.”
Editor’s Pick: The old adage about regular season stats going out the window come playoff time should come into play in this series. Even though the RiverHawks dominated the win/loss column against the Cottonmouths, both teams are playing with confidence right now and that will even out a lot of things. Experience and talent are also pretty even. If Columbus keeps Augusta’s power play on the bench, they stand a much better chance to win. However, the RiverHawks home hex continues as Augusta wins this one in three games.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.