CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Cincinnati Cyclones (27-20-3-2) collected a 5-2 win over the Evansville IceMen on Tuesday night. Defenseman Garrett Noonan notched a pair of goals, while forwards Joe Pendenza,Branden Gracel, and Tommy Mele chipped in lone tallies for the Cyclones, who earn their tenth home win in a row over the Evansville IceMen.
The Cyclones drew first blood in the contest, as 8:06 into the opening frame, Pendenza picked off a pass in the right circle of the offensive zone and fired a shot that beat IceMen goaltender Christoffer Bengtsberg, putting the Cyclones up, 1-0.
The IceMen battled back to tie the game a little over seven minutes later, when a shot from forward Ryan Penny deflected off of a skate out front and into the net, pulling Evansville even with Cincinnati, 1-1.
That 1-1 score held up throughout the remainder of the first period, and in the second, the Cyclones’ power play struck for the 12th time in its last 30 chances, when forward Zach Budish sent a pass to Noonan in the high slot, and he fired a shot past Bengtsberg, extending Cincinnati’s to 2-1, 11:19 into the second.
Just 27 seconds later, Cincinnati struck again, when forward Colin Mulvey skated in on goal and tossed a shot that was initially kicked out by Bengtsberg, but Gracel was right there to tap in the rebound, pulling the Cyclones ahead by a 3-1 score.
Evansville was not deterred, and managed to pull to within a goal with less than two minutes left, when a shot from forward Alec Hagaman found its way into the net, cutting the Cyclones’ lead to 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Cincinnati extended their lead back to two goals just past the midway point of the third, when Mulvey found Mele on a 2-on-1 rush, and he tucked it in around Bengtsberg, giving the Cyclones a 4-2 lead.
The Cyclones capped off the win with less than a minute left, when forward Andrew Yogan fed Noonan on a 2-on-0 rush, and he chipped it into the empty net, sealing Cincinnati’s 5-2 win.
Cincinnati outshot the IceMen, 25-28 on the night, with goaltender Andy Iles turning aside 16 to earn the win. The Cyclones continue their four-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Atlanta Gladiators. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:35pm ET.
With Cincinnati Cyclones release
Contact the photographer: Shawn.Conkle@prohockeynews.com
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