AUGUSTA, GA – Over the last year and a half, the Augusta RiverHawks and Columbus Cottonmouths have produced one of the best rivalries in the SPHL. The teams always seem to be evenly matched and the games tend to be close and exciting.
On Saturday, March 3rd, the teams met in the sixth match-up of the season and for the first time it ended up not being a one-goal game. Led by the twin two-goal efforts of Kyle Watson and Jim Gehring, the RiverHawks played one of their best games all season in beating the Cottonmouths 5-1 at the James Brown Arena.
Looking to avenge a Friday night loss to Columbus, the RiverHawks knew they would have to play a sixty minute game in order to beat the Cottonmouths. For much of the first period, it looked like it was going to be a defensive affair as Columbus netminder Ian Vigier and Augusta goalie Peter Skoggard were locked in a scoreless struggle.
Finally, with 1:05 left to play before the first intermission, the RiverHawks broke the ice when Watson zipped a shot just under the crossbar and past Vigier. Before the happy home crowd had a chance to settle back into their seats, the Cottonmouths had an answer as Greg Beller beat Skoggard 14 seconds later to tie the game before the break.
When the teams came out for the second period, Augusta had a bit more jump in their legs and it showed up right away. Just 36 seconds into the stanza, Neil Graham took a feed from captain Matt Auffrey and beat Vigier to put the RiverHawks in front. A little under four minutes later, Gehring found a way to put the puck past the Columbus goalie to increase the lead to 3-1. As it turned out, that was more than enough for Skoggard who turned away 15 shots by the Cottonmouths in the middle period on the way to a 30-save game.
Augusta struck quickly again at the start of the third period. Gehring picked up his second score of the contest at the 1:08 mark on a great individual move. Not to be outdone, Watson notched his second lamp-lighter a little over a minute later, pushing the margin to four and deflating Columbus’ hopes for a final stanza comeback. Vigier did all he could for Columbus, stopping 13 of the 15 shots he faced in the last twenty minutes as part of a 37-save night while taking the loss.
The win for Skoggard was his tenth of the season. It kept the RiverHawks seven points ahead of second place Knoxville and nine in front of the third place Cottonmouths.
Augusta%27s Kyle Watson (17%2C white) and Tyler Howe jump to avoid the puck.
Kyle Watson celebrates one of his two goals in the win.
Augusta goalie Peter Skoggard somehow finds the puck in traffic.
Columbus%27 Greg Beller 12%2C blue) tries to avoid Augusta%27s Matt Auffrey (20%2C white) Jim Gehring (14).
Augusta%27s Jim Gehring (14%2C white) shovels the puck past Columbus goalie Ian Vigier.
Contact the photographer at stephanie.simpers@prohockeynews.com
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