Peoria, IL – – Alec Hagaman had a hat trick and the Peoria Rivermen defeated the Fayetteville Marksmen 7-3 Saturday night in front of 4,007 very entertained fans on Saturday night…and that was before the circus came to town.
Hagaman completed his hat-trick at 9:36 of the third period, scoring through a slot full of traffic to make the score 7-3.
From there, though. the game itself became a side-show to the antics of the last place Marksmen. Five 10-minute penalties were called in the last four minutes of play…four of them on Fayetteville.
It looked like Peoria would dominate a very intense first period. Goals by Micheal Economos and Joe Widmar staked the Rivermen to an early 2-0 lead. Goaltender Peter DiSalvo protexted that lead with some nice saves, too.
A fluke penalty on Keegan Bruce game the Marksmen an opening, though, and Jake Hauswirth found Dakota Klecha open on the far side of the net for the powr play goal. Twenty seconds later, Klcha races down the ice and scored again to even things up.
Hagaman put the Rivermen back on top, 3-2, with a low-percentage shot along the goal line 30 seconds later and that was how the period ended.
The second period ended with the score 5-3. Peoria had another goal by Economos and Alec Hagaman’s power play goal. Sandwiched between those, Jesse Fracchini beat DiSalvo for the mrksmen tally. DiSalvo made severala crobatic and dramatic saves.
The second period ended with penalties as Stephen Gallo retaliated when Klecha speared him. Gallo’s minor was trumped by Klecha’s major Game Misconduct. CHris Porter literally piled on and was hit with a minor and a ten-minute major, himself.
Peoria started the third period on a five-minute power play, during which Cody Smith stretched the Rivermen lead to three goals.
Hagaman completed his hat-trick at 9:36 of the third period, scoring through a slot full of traffic to make the score 7-3.
From there, though. the game turned into a circus. Five 10-minute penalties were called in the last four minutes fo play…four of them on Fayetteville.
Patrick Spano had a rough night, stopping just 35 of Peoria’s 42 SOG. He was pulled at the end of the game. Denis Tsaruk saw SPHL ice for the first time this season but didn’t face a shot in is 2:37 of action. DiSalvo looked like Superman at times, but the Marksmen solves him thrice in 24 shots.
Peoria went two for three on the power play while Fayetteville scored once on their four chances.
Peoria goes for the three-game sweep Sunday afternoon at 3pm.
HALL OF FAME NIGHT – The Rivermen wore special navy blue jerseys with the image of Darren Clark on the front. Clark played 219 games with the ECHL Rivermen over three seasons and was a key part of the 2000 Kelly Cup Champion team in his rookie season. Clark was inducted into the Rivermen Hall of Fame during the second intermission.
Contact the author at Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com or follow him on Twtter @SLBatPHN.
You must be logged in to post a comment.