COLUMBUS, GA – You know you have arrived as a professional athlete when your team commissions a bobblehead of your likeness for a giveaway. It is a completely different thing to provide a big performance on the night when that bobblehead is handed out.
On Saturday, January 24th, Columbus Cottonmouths netminder Shannon Szabados found herself in just such a situation when the Knoxville Ice Bears traveled to Columbus to play the Cottonmouths. True to her Olympic-sized talent, Szabados made 37 saves as Columbus defeated the Ice Bears 5-2.
The opening period was about as even as the fans could get. Knoxville opened the scoring at the 4:54 mark when Brett Valliquette beat Szabados off assists from Josh Cousineau and Jason Price. Less than two minutes later, Columbus evened things up when Nick Curry put the puck behind Knoxville netminder Bryan Hince for an unassisted score.
The Ice Bears regained the lead quickly when Francis Drolet and Dennis Sicard combined to set up Robbie Donahoe for a goal at 7:34. The Cottonmouths would eventually tie the game again late in the frame when Bryce Williamson fed the puck to Matt Gingera who scored.
Williamson was responsible for the lone tally of the second period, taking a feed from Gingera and beating Hince (39 saves) a little bit beyond the midpoint of the stanza. Szabados, who made eleven saves in the first, was a perfect 18 for 18 in the middle frame, giving Columbus the lead after two.
The Cottonmouths doubled their lead eight and a half minutes into the final period. Williamson netted his second of the game off assists from Neilsson Arcibal and Gingera to make it a 4-2 game. From there, Columbus’ defense put the Ice Bears offense on lockdown, allowing just eight shots which Szabados handled easily. Shawn Bates closed out the scoring with an empty net goal in the final minute with help from Louis Belisle and Nick Curry.
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