COLUMBUS, GA – A fter failing to close its SPHL semifinal series with Columbus at home, the Fayetteville FireAntz knew that it would not be easy to win a deciding game five on the road. That is unless you have a line combination like Dan Buccella, Emery Olauson and Brett Needham at your disposal. The three FireAntz forwards combined to score both of their teamâs power play goals in support of the 28-save performance of goalie Guy St. Vincent as Fayetteville blanked Columbus 2-0 to take the best-of-five series three games to two. Fayetteville now moves on to face the defending champion Knoxville Ice Bears in the Presidentâs Cup finals starting later this week. âThe guys were in good spirits yesterday (Tuesday) and we just played our game plan,â Fayetteville coach Tommy Stewart said. âWe played aggressive. We played hard and we got the job done.â From the opening face-off, the FireAntz were swarming toward the Columbus end of the ice. Once again, Cottonmouthsâ goalie Chad Rycroft had to stand on his head early, robbing Rob Sich on a break-in just over a minute in. Minute s later, Columbusâ Ryan McCarthy was forced to haul down a streaking Brett McConnachie, putting Fayetteville on the power play. Cottonmouthsâ forward Orrin Hergott got loose for a shot that St. Vincent knocked away and as is the case many times, the defense turned into offense. Emery Olauson gained control in the Columbus end and fed Brett Needham who found Dan Buccella in front of the net. Buccellaâs quick shot beat Rycroft top side at the 6:35 mark, putting the visitors ahead 1-0. For Cottonmouthsâ coach Jerome Bechard, the first period was a sign that maybe his team had given as much as it could and had little left for the winner-take-all battle. âI think finally maybe fatigue and injuries caught up (with us),â Bechard said. âIâd say that (in the) first period, I donât think it was everybody. I think it was more of my defensive corps. They logged a lot of ice time the other night playing with five guys. I think with a couple of injuries and stuff like that, I think that was the key. Their forwards put pressure on our defense and we couldnât handle some of the pressure.â The FireAntz obviously smelled blood when they came out for the second period. After killing off a holdover penalty from the first stanza, they began to put heavy pressure on the Columbus defense and Rycroft. On at least two occasions, Rycroft was fo rced to make a sequence of saves as almost every rebound found the stick of a Fayetteville player. Late in the period, Fayetteville had its second chance with the man advantage and once again, Columbus paid the price. Needham got the puck to Bob Rapoza who looked and found Olauson in the slot. His wrister found the back of the net at 15:02 and gave his team a 2-0 lead. By the time the period ended, the âAntz had rolled up 17 shots at Rycroft while St. Vincent faced just eight. The fact that the power play was such an important part of Fayettevilleâs offense was not lost on Stewart. âThey beat us five on five in the series but we took care of it on the man advantage,â he said. âAny way, whatever it takes in the playoffs. I donât care if weâre minus-100. If we won the game, thatâs all that counts.â With 20 minutes left between themselves and an unwanted early start to the off season, Columbus started the third playing with a desperate passion. This time it was St. Vincent who became the brick wall, stopping several Cottonmouth forays. Even when Columbus had golden opportunities, they didnât have any luck as when Sam Bowles had an open net to fire at and missed. The crushing blow for Columbusâ hopes came with three minutes left when during a stoppage in play, McCarthy skated20past the crease. St. Vincent fell to the ice and referee Brent Columbe called a slashing penalty on McCarthy. It allowed the FireAntz to effectively kill most of the remaining time to earn their second trip to the finals in three years. Game notesâŠColumbus out shot Fayetteville 19-2 in the final period and 37 to 28 for the gameâŠWith a goal and assist, Olauson (3-8-11) pulled ahead of teammate Buccella (5-5-10) in the playoff scoring race. The FireAntz also hold the number three slot in scoring as Needhamâs two assists put him at eight points (2-6)âŠDespite going 1-2, Columbusâ Rycroft posted a solid 2.90 goals against average for his time in netâŠFayettevilleâs power play was simply spectacular during the series, going 10-for-31 which equates to a 32.26 percent success rateâŠThe loss marks the second straight season that the Cottonmouths have lost in a deciding game of a series. Last year, they took eventual champion Knoxville to the limit in their best-of-five series before losingâŠFayettevilleâs last appearance in the finals was in 2007 when they defeated Jacksonville three games to oneâŠGames 1 and 2 of the best-of-seven finals are scheduled for this coming Friday and Saturday in Knoxville with Games 3 and 4 in Fayetteville the following Friday and Saturday. Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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