Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen got a pair of goals from rookie center Jacob Barber and two assists from goaltender Eric Levine as they earned their fifth straight win, 5-2 over the Huntsville Havoc Saturday night at Carver Arena. The win keeps Peoria three points ahead of a three-way second-place tie in the SPHL standings.
The Rivermen grabbed the lead early in the first period while on the power play. With Havoc center Sy Nutkevitch in the sin bin for slashing, Barber flew into the left wing of the Huntsville zone and sent a pass across the goalmouth to teammate Cody Dion, who dunked it past Huntsville goaltender Keegan Asmundson for a 1-0 lead at 5:27 of the first. Huntsville evened the score just before the midway point of the first period. Havoc defenseman Peter Sikalis controlled the puck along the left-wing boards and sent a shot across the front of the Peoria crease. Havoc center Jack Ceglarski deflected the puck from atop the blue paint and over the shoulder of Rivermen goaltender Eric Levine to even the score 1-1 at 8:44 of the period.
The Rivermen broke the tie for good with a pair of goals 35 seconds apart late in the second period. The sequence began when Rivermen center/defenseman Jordan Carvalho raced down the right-wing boards into the Havoc zone and fed a pass towards the net that found Barber, who flicked the puck over Asmundson and into the back of the net for the 2-1 Rivermen edge at 16:02 of the middle stanza. Peoria added a goal just 35 seconds later when winger Alec Hagaman slipped a pass to teammate Dave Pszenyczny in the slot before the Rivermen captain fired a shot that evaded Asmundson and found the back of the net for the 3-1 lead at 16:37 of the second period.
The Havoc cut into the Rivermen lead in the opening minute of the third period, while on the power play. With Rivermen winger Mike Gurtler boxed for tripping, Havoc defenseman Nolan Kaiser sent a shot on goal from the right point that Levine turned aside, but the rebound found center Christian Powers, who snuck a shot across the goal line under the Levine’s body to cut the Peoria lead to 3-2 48 seconds into the period. The Rivermen regained a two-goal lead late in the third period when Barber notched his second goal of the night. Rivermen winger Alec Hagaman carried the puck out of his own zone and dropped a pass in neutral ice for Barber, who coasted to the top of the left-wing circle of the Huntsville zone and blasted a shot past Asmundson’s glove for a 4-2 lead at 13:11 of the period. Peoria added an empty-net tally from winger Dakota Klecha in the game’s final minute for a 5-2 final score. Levine stopped 29 of 31 shots faced to earn the win in net and improve to 8-1-0 on the season. The Wheeling, IL native recorded assists on both of Barber’s goals, giving him his first pro point since recording an assist December 6, 2013 against Huntsville.
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