Rivermen grab OT win at Louisiana Peoria stays in 2nd place as teams battle to extra time for 3rd straight game

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Peoria Rivermen went to overtime for the third straight game with the Louisiana IceGators, but captured a 4-3 win at the Cajundome on Thursday night to remain in second place in the Southern Professional Hockey League.

The Rivermen tallied first just 2:42 into the game and 12 seconds into the first power play when Garrett Vermeesch connected from the left circle on assists from Matt Summers and Nick Schneider. The IceGators evened the game with 12:33 left in the opening period when Chris Wilson took a rebound and skated the length of the ice down a clear right side and scored from the right dot. 

Louisiana grabbed a 2-1 lead only 1:36 into the second period when Jake Hauswirth lit the lamp from the bottom of the right circle, helped by Tanner Burton and Benjamin Rubin. The Rivermen knotted the game at 2-2 when Christian Weidauer found an open from the right circle after a flurry in the crease with 7:03 showing before the second intermission, assisted by Steve Morra. Just 1:10 later, Peoria regained a 3-2 lead when Alec Hagaman snuck a low drive from the left circle between the pads of Gator goalie Matt Zenzola, with the assist given to Jason Cohen. The IceGators found an equalizer with 3:41 left in the middle chapter on a redirect by Jeremy Boyer of a Hauswirth drive to put the game at 3-3 at the second intermission, where the score remained through regulation.

Jake Trask put an end to the contest when he collected a breakaway and chipped a backhand over Zenzola’s outstretched right pad at 3:08 into overtime for his team-leading fourth game-winning goal, assisted by Nick Schneider and Jordan Sims.

Kyle Rank stopped 19 shots for the win while Zenzola made 32 saves in the overtime loss. Peoria capitalized once on five power plays while Louisiana came up empty in four chances.

The Rivermen (20-11-3, 43 points) remain in second place by one point behind the Knoxville Ice Bears, who also won on Thursday 5-3 over Fayetteville. The Ice Gators (18-11-5, 41 points) stay in third place, two points behind the Rivermen.