HUNTSVILLE, AL – The Knoxville Ice Bears gutted out a close 3-2 win against the Huntsville Havoc.
Each team kept the other at bay throughout the game, and Garrett Vermeersch secured the win for Knoxville with a goal in the third period.
The Ice Bears got the win behind a great game by Trever Hertz, who had two goals and one assist. Hertz scored the first of his two goals at 8:28 into the first period to make the score 1-1. John Clewlow assisted on the tally. Hertz’s next tally made the score 2-1 Knoxville with 5:11 left in the first period. Knoxville played down a man on Corey Hale‘s tripping. Dennis Sicard provided the assist.
The Ice Bears pulled out the victory even though they were hit with 26 penalty minutes.
Knoxville put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Huntsville to score on any of its six power plays. The Ice Bears’ offense was clicking better than usual and put 35 shots on goal during the game, better than the 23.6 shots per game they average.
The Havoc stifled Knoxville’s power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. Huntsville was forced to rely heavily on their penalty kill unit throughout the game, as it racked up 22 penalty minutes. The Havoc relied on a core group of players for most of their offense, as John Lidgett, Jeremy Beirnes and Nick Schneider took 12 of the team’s 23 shots.
Kyle McNeil also scored for Huntsville. More assists for Huntsville came via John McGinnis and Bo Driscoll, who contributed one each.
Bryan Hince rejected 21 shots on goal for the Ice Bears. Knoxville was unable to connect on four power play opportunities. Huntsville’s Kevin Genoe stopped 32 shots out of the 35 that he faced.
Text provided by SPHL Huntsville Havoc media release.
Photos provided by Christina.Wolff@ProHockeyNews.com
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