Peoria, IL – The Peoria Rivermen completed a swept away the Fayetteville FireAntz Sunday afternoon. winning 4-1 in front of a loud crowd of 3,479.
What began as a three-game weekend series between the first place Fayetteville 
FireAntz and the fourth place Peoria Rivermen ended with a Rivermen sweep.
By Sunday evening, Peoria had vaulted to second place and Fayetteville tied for third in the SPHL standings, with just two games left to play in the waning regular season.
Over the course of the three games, Fayetteville could only muster two goals while allowing eleven. Even the Rivermen Zamboni crew got in on the act, waving brooms behind the glass as the final minutes ticked off.
After a scoreless first period, the Rivermen started the second period with the remainder of a power play.
Weidauer’s slapshot went wide and bounced off the back boards and gathered by Keller at the corner of the net. Keller’s shot was right into the pillows of goaltender Tyler Parks. That blocked shot rebounded across the crease where Jeff Jones was able to shove it behind Parks for the 1-0 lead as the penalty expired.
Hagaman, off the faceoff, caught Parks leaning too far forward and used the entire stick to reach out and poke the puck around him for a 2-0 lead at 5:36 of the second period. Eric Witzel added an assist on the play.
Max Cook picked up a loose puck in front of his own goal during a Rivermen power play and raced down the ice, undefended. One move was all it took and his shot sailed past Rivermen goalie Tyler Park’s glove. The shorthanded, unassisted goal pulled the FireAntz to within one, 2-1, at 11:54 of the second period.
Parks made a mistake in the third period. When a loose puck came down the ice with Jackson Leef chasing it down, Parks came out to play the puck. The two arrived at the top of the slot at the same time and both bodies went flying. The puck popped out to Don Olivieri, who threaded it past a defenseman for a 3-1 Rivermen lead at 8:50 of the third period.
Olivieri then tacked on an empty net goal with just over thirty seconds left in the game to make the final 4-1.
Fayetteville, the top power play unit in the league, failed to score on any of their five opportunities. Peoria scored once but also allowed a short-handed goal during their six chances.
Tyler Parks extended his record to 8-5-5 for Peoria. Tyler Green, who was 10-4-4 with Peoria before being traded in February, is now 12-5-4 on the season.
The regular schedule concludes for Peoria with a home and home series next weekend against Memphis/Mississippi. Peoria is guaranteed home ice for the first round of the SPHL playoffs.
Contact the author at Shaun.Bill@ProHockeyNews.com, or follow him on Twitter @SLBatPHN
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