AUGUSTA, GA – Having fallen out of first place, the Augusta RiverHawks were eager to climb back into the top position. On Thursday, January 5th, the RiverHawks skated to an early three goal lead and hung on for a 3-2 victory over the Huntsville Havoc at the James Brown Arena. The win, combined with the Knoxville Ice Bears losing the same night, vaulted Augusta back into sole possession of first place in the SPHL, a spot they had held for most of the season.
The game was the RiverHawks’ first since the team made a series of changes to the roster designed to jump start their performance. The changes seemed to pay dividends early in the game as the RiverHawks controlled play while staking themselves to a three goal lead early in the game.
A major part of the renovations to the roster was the re-signing of Egor Mironov who was one of the RiverHawks’ top goal scorers during the 2010-2011 campaign. He scored what would be the game’s winning goal just 1:11 into the second period, converting a nice passing play from new linemates Neil Graham and Matt Auffrey.
Augusta had jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, thanks in part to the continued stellar play of defenseman Ed Snetsinger. Snetsinger, the RiverHawks’ nominee for Player of the Month for December, set up both tallies in the opening stanza. Jim Gehring notched the first one at the 5:45 mark and Jesse Echternach put the second one home at the 18:14 mark. The two assists gave Snetsinger 29 points in 28 games and put him within a handful of points of the league lead in scoring among defensemen.
Huntsville broke onto the scoreboard late in the second when Mike MacDonald beat Augusta goalie Jon Olthuis with just over a minute left in the period. Ryan Kretzer pulled the Havoc within one with 56 seconds left in regulation after net minder Kevin Beech had been pulled for an extra attacker. Olthuis was able to shut the door the rest of the way, stopping 24 shots on net including 11 of the 12 he faced in the final period.

Augusta%27s Curtis Megginson (right) battles a Huntsville player for the puck as goalie Jon Olthuis look on.

Huntsville%27s Sam Cannata (left%2C black jersey) and Augusta%27s Tyler Howe go at it.

Havoc forward Dennis Sicard (left) and Augusta%27s Kyle Watson slug it out in a second period fight.

RiverHawks goalie Jon Olthuis makes a save on Huntsville%27s Glenn Detulleo.

Jesse Echternach (right) beats Havoc goalie Kevin Beech for a first period goal.

Augusta%27s Tyler Howe (center%2C white jersey) throws a hit on a Huntsville player.

AUGUSTA, GA – The Augusta RiverHawks put forth a valiant third period effort to give themselves a chance to pick up a win on New Year’s Eve afternoon at the James Brown Arena. Instead, it was the Columbus Cottonmouths who skated away with the 4-3 overtime victory. Just over two minutes into the extra frame, Cottonmouths’ forward Derek Pallardy stole the puck from a RiverHawks forward and sprung out on a breakaway. He out-skated Augusta’s back-checkers and beat RiverHawks’ goaltender Jon Olthuis to the glove side. The RiverHawks needed a big effort in the third period in order to tie the game at 3-3 and they got just that. Augusta out-shot the Cottonmouths 15-5 in the final stanza but they were unable to break through until they had just 17 seconds left on the clock in regulation time. Defenseman Jason Price blasted a hard, low shot from the point that Columbus goaltender Ian Vigier stopped but the rebound was batted in by Neil Graham to send the contest to overtime. A poor second period turned out to be the RiverHawks undoing in the game. Augusta gave up two goals in the frame, one to Daniel Amesbury and the other to veteran Orrin Hergott. It was Hergott’s second goal of the game, his first coming just under two minutes into the game on a power play. The RiverHawks led the game after the first period thanks in large part to captain Matt Auffrey. The reigning league MVP set up his team’s first goal with a shot on net that Vigier stopped but Ed Snetsinger followed up by shoving the rebound over the goal line. Seven minutes later, Auffrey led a two-on-one shorthanded rush with Aaron McGill. A pretty passing play led to a wide open Cottonmouths’ net and Auffrey made no mistake, depositing the puck into the back of the net.   Despite the loss, Augusta did pick up a point in the standings for pushing the game into overtime. The point moved the RiverHawks into a tie for first place in the SPHL with the Knoxville Ice Bears. The Ice Bears have two games in hand on Augusta.

Columbus goalie Ian Vigier (40%2C left) makes a save as Augusta%27s Neil Graham (22) and Columbus%27 Greg Beller look on.

Augusta%27s Neil Graham (22%2C center) ties the game late in the third period as teammate Matt Auffrey (20) looks on.

Columbus%27 Brett Hammond (17%2C left) and Sam Bowles (24%2C right) doubleteam a RiverHawks opponent.

Columbus%27 Jordan Braid (10%2C left) battles Augusta%27s Kyle Watson for the puck.

Three Cottonmouths and two RiverHawks fight for a loose puck.

Augusta%27s Branden Kosolofsky (39%2C center) tries to get away from Columbus%27 Tom Maldonado (7%2C right).

Columbus%27 Derek Pallardy (22%2C right) beats Augusta goalie Jon Olthuis for the game-winning ovetime goal.

AUGUSTA, GA – The Augusta RiverHawks ended a rare three-game losing streak in fine fashion on Friday, December 30 at the James Brown Arena by defeating the Fayetteville FireAntz 5-1. RiverHawks’ net minder Jon Olthuis was the star for Augusta, making 26 saves for his seventh win of the season.   It was the first time since January of last season that the RiverHawks had strung together three straight losses, all of which came on the road. The keys to the victory for the RiverHawks, aside from Olthuis’ effort, were the special teams as the first three Augusta goals came on the power play and they denied all of the FireAntz’ chances with the man advantage.   It looked like the RiverHawks might be lining up four losses in a row early in the game when the FireAntz got on the board first. Just over five minutes into the game, FireAntz defenseman Terry Watt fired a shot that was blocked before it got to Olthuis but it went straight onto the stick of Josh McQuade who fired it into the back of the net.   The sloppy first period continued on for just over five minutes before the RiverHawks knotted the score. Jesse Echternach fired a shot from the point that way initially stopped by FireAntz’ goaltender Mike Brown but the rebound sat near the crease for too long. SPHL leading goal scorer Jim Gehring pounced on the loose puck and fired in his 24th goal of the season.   The second period was one of the more entertaining stanzas of hockey that had been played at the James Brown Arena this season but it ended with neither team being able to beat the opposing goaltender.   With the score tied at one goal apiece, the RiverHawks opened the flood gates in the third period. Just over two minutes in, forward Justin MacDonald skated off the side boards with the puck and fired a snapshot past Brown for his first goal since joining the RiverHawks five games ago. His goal would prove to be the game winner.   The game stayed tight for twelve more minutes before Augusta took complete control. Aaron McGill, back in the lineup after being suspended for Thursday’s game in Knoxville, potted two more goals in the remaining minutes and Tyler Fernandez scored his first since joining the team to complete the scoring.

Fayetteville goalie Mike Brown (back center) tries to find the puck and Augusta%27s Matt Auffrey (20).

Augusta%27s Nick Wheeler (27%2C left) gets awa from Fayetteville defenseman Terry Watt along the boards.

Fayetteville%27s Josh McQuade (18) tried to avoid an oncoming RiverHawks defender.

Augusta goalie Jon Olthuis shows his flexibility%2C doing the split to make a save.

Augusta%27s Jim Gehring (14%2C right) watches as hi rebound shot beats Fayetteville goalie Mike Brown.

Fayetteville%27s Brett Needhan (41%2C left) and Augusta%27s Jon Olthuis follow an airborne puck.

Augusta%27s Aaron McGill (18%2C left) scores the first of his two third period goals.