RiverHawks dream season continues

AUGUSTA , GA  – At the beginning of the SPHL regular season, the Augusta RiverHawks lost their first three games, causing people to wonder whether it would really be an expansion kind of rebuilding year filled with tough losses. Wonder no more – the RiverHawks are for real.
Ryan Olidis scored two goals while linemate Neil Graham scored once as the RiverHawks continued their dream inaugural by defeating the Columbus Cottonmouths 3-2 in the deciding game of their best-of-three playoff series Sunday night at the James Brown Arena. The victory now sends Augusta to the SPHL President’s Cup finals against the Mississippi Surge, who dispatched the Knoxville Ice Bears in a hard fought five-game series.
Game one of the finals is set for Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. central time at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.
Columbus was already having a bad day when they got to Augusta as the team bus was

still without working air conditioning, making for a long, hot cross-state drive. They were also without forward Jesse Cole who suffered an injury Saturday night. Cole’s absence was offset by the fact that Augusta’s Kevin Fukala was suspended indefinitely for his match penalty the night before.
The ice surface at the James Brown Arena was slightly better than it was on Friday night but the teams seemed better prepared for it. Columbus coach Jerome Bechard was hoping that his team could overcome its 0-6 record at the JBA with sheer will and hustle while Augusta coach Brad Ralph wanted his team to forget Saturday’s drubbing at the hands of the Cottonmouths and get back to its physical, domineering style of play.
The RiverHawks jumped on the Cottonmouths early in an attempt to rattle the visitors’ confidence. Columbus was equal to the challenge as goalie Ian Vigier stoned Graham on a point plank shot and moments later defenseman Brett Tyler dove to break up a break-in by Olidis. When the Cottonmouths turned on their offense, Augusta net minder Jon Olthuis, who was pulled from game two in favor of Peter Skoggard, was on his game. Olthuis robbed Levi Lind on an original shot and rebound opportunity, proving to everyone that he was ready to play.
Not to be outdone, Vigier returned the double save favor by stopping Egor Mironov on a two-on-one break and then diving across to block the rebound shot by Jason Dolgy. Ten seconds after the twin saves, the RiverHawks drew first blood when Drew Baker and Jim Gehring did the setup work for Olidis who redirected Gehring’s give-and-go pass past Vigier at the 9:30 mark.
The Cottonmouths pressed hard over the back half of the stanza, keeping Olthuis very busy but coming away frustrated as the Augusta net minder was playing more like a brick wall than a human being. When the buzzer sounded to end the period, Columbus had a 16-6 edge in shots on net but the RiverHawks led 1-0.
The second period looked like a carbon copy of the first as Augusta appeared to be playing for opportunities while Columbus was pressing the action. The Cottonmouths’ best early chance came when Jordan Braid got off a shot that finally beat Olthuis only to clank off the iron and bounce harmlessly away.
Augusta broke the game open a bit near the midway point of the period. At the 7:25 mark, Gehring fed Olidis who fired a backhanderthat found its way past Vigier, doubling the lead. Just two minutes later, some brilliant down low cycling of the puck led to Gehring sending the puck toward the front of the net. Graham got loose just enough to grab the loose puck and whipped it home to make it a three-goal lead for the home team.
Columbus knew it was in trouble of being blown out but the Cottonmouths kept working and it paid off. At the 10:49 mark, a mere 1:10 after Graham’s tally, Kyle Lundale blasted a shot from the point that Olthuis stopped. The rebound came loose and was popped home by Peter MacDougall, cutting the margin to 3-1.
The goal gave some life to the Cottonmouths’ offense and it led to Daryl Moore being hooked from behind on a clean breakaway with 3:47 left before the intermission. Moore was awarded a penalty shot but his attempt went sailing over the net as he tried to go high on Olthuis. A late Columbus power play failed to produce a goal, allowing Augusta to carry a 3-1 lead into the final twenty minutes.
As the final period opened, Columbus started throwing everything it had at the RiverHawks. Braid had two good chances and Matt Kinnunen had a third but Olthuis knocked down all of them. Augusta then asserted itself, logging four straight shots of its own as the Cottonmouths leaned heavily on Vigier to keep them in the contest.
With the clock ticking down and their season on the line, the Cottonmouths opened up the offense and stormed the Augusta end. The onslaught of shots finally found a hole in Olthuis’ wall with 6:38 left when Moore got loose and lifted a shot high over the goalie’s shoulder to cut the lead to 3-2.
More Columbus pressure followed the score until MacDougall was whistled for hooking with 4:06 left. The penalty derailed theCottonmouths for two crucial minutes while the RiverHawks used the power play to kill time. Vigier made two more stops to keep the score close but Columbus could only muster one shot on net in the final two minutes as Augusta protected Olthuis and the victory to perfection.
Game Notes: Both teams went 0-for-3 with the man advantage in the game. For the series, Columbus was 2-for-18 on the power play while Augusta went 4-for-12…Olthuis stopped 45 of the 47 shots he faced for the win while Vigier made 17 saves in absorbing the loss…Attendance for the game which started less than a half hour after the end of the Masters golf tournament was announced as 897…Heading into the finals, Augusta’s Olidis, Gehring and Branded Kosolofsky are all tied with Mississippi’s Michael Richard for the post-season scoring lead at eight points. RiverHawks’ forward Travis Dunstall leads the goal-scoring race with five through six games…Games one and two of the finals will be played in Biloxi on Tuesday and Wednesday with game three and game four if necessary back in Augusta on Friday, April 15th and 16th. A deciding game five if needed will be in Mississippi on Sunday, April 17th.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com