Columbus, GA – Fans at the Columbus Civic Center celebrated Family Night and rallied behind their River Dragons, entering tonight’s game on a three-game win streak and standing tall at number one in the Continental Division of the FPHL. Soldiers of the US Army lined the stands as well, and recited The Soldier’s Creed, portraying their steadfast courage, professionalism, and dedication for listeners of all ages.
At the start of tonight’s matchup, tempers flared high between the visiting El Mira River Sharks and the Columbus River Dragons, following yesterday’s close contest. Columbus started with a one-man advantage after the River Sharks were penalized for going past the allotted warm-up times. Although Columbus had the power play at the opening puck drop, they failed to capitalize on the opportunity.
Jay Croop, activated from Inactive Reserve, wasted no time in putting pressure on Sammy Bernard, prompting a frenzied response from El Mira to protect their goalie.
Through the first twenty minutes of gameplay, Talor Joseph stopped all eleven of El Mira’s attempts at scoring. Likewise, Sammy Bernard blocked all thirteen shots on goal by the River Dragons. Much of the first period was spent with Columbus on the attack, but failing to capitalize. El Mira had several opportunities as well, but failed to watch the play and missed numerous chances to make any headway.
At the start of the second period, both teams hit the ice like it was the last game they’d ever play, refusing to let up on each other. At 4:56, Sequoia Swan was the first to occupy the box for boarding, causing an uproar in the River Sharks’ lineup. Stavros Soilis was also immediately locked up for roughing, confining each team to only four men on the ice.
At 6:11, Justin MacDonald put the first tick on the scoreboard, with an assist by Josh Pietrantonio. The Dragons continued to breathe fire on the River Sharks as Sequoia Swan pummeled Jesse Swanson at 7:00, less than a minute after the first goal of the game.
At 9:22 into the second period, the River Dragons extended their lead when MacDonald scored on the assist by Ryan Hunter. Shortly afterward at 10:01, MJ Maerkl provided Columbus the power play after being penalized for boarding. Alex Storjahann further expanded the River Dragons’ superiority over El Mira, scoring on an assist by Carter Shinkaruk, putting Columbus ahead 3-0 and marking Shinkaruk’s 200th professional point.
The River Sharks quickly struck back, when at 15:45, Steven Ford scored on Talor Joseph with an assist by Davide Gaeta and Steven Klincke.
The second period concluded with the Dragons flying high over the River Sharks 3-1.
The third period blasted off, with El Mira fighting hard to gain momentum. At 4:52, Columbus gave the River Sharks the power play when Nathan Balkwill was penalized for interference, but El Mira failed to score with the 5 on 4 advantage.
Through the rest of the third period, Columbus pressed hard on El Mira in an attempt to prevent them from making any headway.
At 17:52, El Mira called a timeout to strategize the remaining two minutes of gameplay and pulled their goalie to give them an extra man. At 18:32 though, Columbus took advantage of El Mira’s disorganized offense and Kyle Moore scored on the empty net with an assist by Justin MacDonald, putting the River Dragons up 4-1 and concluding the third period.
Kyle Moore helped the River Dragons take the W over El Mira this weekend, achieving 3 points – two of which were assists in yesterday’s 4-3 win and an empty net goal that solidified the River Dragons’ victory tonight.
Moore had this to share, concerning the River Dragons’ performance this weekend:
“It’s always great winning two games on a weekend at home, but I wouldn’t be able to do it without my great linemates. We [all] worked hard and we work [well] together. We didn’t play our best last night so today we [knew] we had to play hard, play smarter and play behind their D.”
Justin MacDonald, who also had a successful weekend, added:
“The main thing [this weekend] was to get those two wins to separate us between second place because, at the end of the day, we want home-ice advantage going into the playoffs. It was a great couple wins. We definitely have stuff to work on, but at the end of the day we got six points and that’s what we wanted. We didn’t capitalize in the first period, but we knew if we kept pushing it would eventually go in and that’s what happened in the second period after a nice pass off [Pietrantonio] to me and that started everything.”
Columbus concludes the weekend on a 4-game win streak, while El Mira heads home with a 3-game losing streak.
The River Dragons will play again at home on Wednesday night against the FPHL Continental Division’s #2, the Carolina Thunderbirds. El Mira will square off against the FPHL Empire Division’s #4, the Watertown Wolves, at home on Saturday.
Photos by: Toni.Hill@prohockeynews.com
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