Rivermen fall in shootout in back-and-forth affair Hagaman scores twice in 100 seconds in 3rd for short-lived lead

PEORIA – The Peoria Rivermen fought back for a third-period lead but fell 4-3 in a shootout to the Louisiana IceGators on Sunday afternoon at Carver Arena.

The IceGators scored first on a Jake Hauswirth running five-hole shot from the right circle assisted by Tanner Burton and Chris Wilson with 9:24 showing on the first period clock. 

The Rivermen evened the contest 3:20 into the second period when Alex Hudson weaved around traffic on the left wing and froze IceGators goalie Matt Zenzola with a toe drag to tap in the tying goal into an open right side of the net, assisted by Paul Arnott. Louisiana took a 2-1 lead when Adam Stuart connected deep in the slot on a quick pass from behind the net from Bobby Watson also assisted by Bret Peppler with 3:41 remaining before the second intermission.

Alec Hagaman tied the game for the Rivermen with 13:04 left in the third period on a spinning shot from the slot that slipped just inside the left post on the stick side, assisted by Steve Morra and Josh Harris. Hagaman gave Peoria a 3-2 lead just 100 seconds later, completing a 2-on-1 break by putting in a rebound of a Morra shot also assisted by Cole Ruwe. Louisiana rebounded with 6:18 left with a top shelf blast from the right circle by Chris Wilson assisted by Benjamin Rubin and Clark Byczynski to knot the contest at 3-3.

No further scoring forced overtime and a shootout. Although Peoria’s Garrett Vermeersch scored in the first round, the IceGators sealed the win by goals in each of the next three rounds by Hauswirth, Peppler and Shawn McNeil.

Matt Zenzola took the 34-save win in his season debut with the IceGators while Kyle Rank suffered the loss with 26 saves. No scoring occurred in five power play chances for Louisiana and two power plays for Peoria, including one in the final 1:23 of overtime.

The Rivermen hold onto third place in the Southern Professional Hockey League with the point on a record of 17-10-3 for 37 points. The IceGators remain tied for fourth with 36 points, improving to 16-11-4.