COLUMBUS, GA – Normally at this time of the year, defense is the name of the game. Last Saturday night at the Columbus Civic Center, the offenses and fists were on display as the Columbus Cottonmouths outlasted the Louisiana IceGators by a final score of 7-5.
None of the goalies, Andrew Loewen for Columbus and Marco DeFilippo and Garrett Zemlak for Louisiana, had any idea of what they were in for when the game began. Columbus jumped out to a quick lead when Ben O’Quinn put the puck into the net at the 4:48 mark off of assists from Craig Simchuk and Will Aide. Just over a minute later, Bryce Williamson and Matt Gingera combined to set up Neilsson Arcibal who scored to make it 2-0. Later in the frame, O’Quinn set up Andy Willigar for a goal that pushed the lead for the Cottonmouths to three.
The second period was a wild one. It included three goals and numerous fights. The bouts began with Arcibal and Louisiana’s Casey Goll just over a minute in and continued midway through the stanza with a line brawl that saw four players get game misconducts.
In between the fights, Louisiana got back into the game 9:20 in when Jeremy Boyer set up Shawn McNeil for a power play goal. 38 seconds later, McNeil set up Jake Hauswirth for a man advantage tally that cut the Columbus lead to 3-2. Arcibal netted his second of the night at the 13:32 mark off assists from Nick Curry and Louis Belisle to give the Cottonmouths a 4-2 lead heading into the third.
Curry bumped the Columbus lead back to three 3:43 into the final frame when he scored with assists going to Shawn Bates and Levi Lind. The IceGators then struck for two as Brett Peppler and Boyer (power play) scored to trim the score to 5-4.
Bates found the back of the net on a power play at 11:31 to give the Cottonmouths a little breathing room. Boyer connected for a goal with an extra attacker on the ice to again pull the IceGators within one late in the game but Belisle put the game away with an empty net tally in the final minute to seal the victory.
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