PEORIA, IL – It took overtime, again, between Peoria and Louisiana, and it was the Ice Gators who ended up on top, 4-3, advancing in the SPHL playoffs. The Ice Gators staged a comeback to upset the #1 seeded Rivermen in front of 2093 die-hard fans in a 
see-saw game.
After putting up three goose eggs the night before, a double minor on Cole Ruwe and a penalty on Steve Morra gave the Ice Gators the opportunity they needed to break out of their offensive funk. They did that in a big way when Jake Hauswirth’s wide shot bounced right to Jeremy Boyer on the corner of the crease. Boyer’s backhand past Rivermen goalie Kyle Rank broke a 62 minute scoreless spell for the Ice Gators and spotted the visitors a 1-0 lead early in the game.
It was chaotic for the next ten minutes as the teams traded penalties but neither team seemed organized and bodies flew. Then the wheels came off for three minutes for Louisiana.
Mike Gurtler, from behind the net, found Jake Trask out front. Trask’s shot was stopped by Louisiana goaltender Scott Diebold, but Alex Hudson was there, fading away from the play as a penalty expired. Hudson lifted the puck over Diebold to even the score at 1-all at 13:05 of the first period.
The trio combined again on their very next shift when Gurtler pushed the puck up to Hudson who took it across the blueline. Hudson snapped a pass through traffic to Trask coming down the slot. Trask looked at Diebold but eased the puck back to Hudson, who buried it for the lead, 2-1 at 15:28 of the period.
The Rivermen finished the scoring in the period with a power play goal. Hauswirth was in the box for slashing and the Rivermen set up their special teams play. Three times the RIvermen fired at Diebold from the left side. Three times they were denied. Matt Summers gathered the puck from behind the net, but instead of going right, he found Steve Morra on the left. Morra’s one-timer gave Peoria a 3-1 lead 16:20 of the first and that is how the period ended.
Peoria brought heavy pressure during the second period, but the Ice Gators clawed their way back. Stephen Buco started it 5:57 when he scored on a feed from Chris Wilson, closing the gap to 3-2. Then, with just eleven seconds left in the period, Shawn McNeil put back a Buco rebound to tie the score at 3-all.
The Rivermen lit the lamp twice late in the third period, but it was waived off both times. Jake Trask had an excellent opportunity to end it all as he broke in alone against Diebold with the seconds ticking down. Diebold stopped the shot with one seconds remaining in regulation and he game proceeded into sudden death overtime.
Louisiana dominated the overtime period and at 12:10, a turnover in the neutral zone by Peoria led to the game winner. Buco’s shot was stopped by Rank but Chris Wilson snagged the rebound to send the Ice Gators to the next round of the SPHL playoffs.
Diebold settled down after a rough first period, where he allowed three of nine shots to go in, stopping the next thirty. Rank stopped 21 of 25 in the loss.
Both teams scored a power play goal.
Contact the author at Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com or follow him on Twitter @SLBatPHN .
Photos by Kimberly Bill
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