KNOXVILLE, Tenn – The Knoxville Ice Bears welcomed the Peoria Rivermen for a St. Patrick’s Day battle between two of the top teams in the SPHL.
The number two ranked Ice Bears got the scoring started with a goal from Stepan Timofeyev in the first period. Anthony McVeigh added one more goal for the Ice Bears within the final three minutes of the first period to put the Ice Bears up 2-0.
The third ranked Rivermen didn’t wait too long to tally. J.M. Piotrowski put the puck past the Ice Bears netminder Jimmy Poreda just 30 seconds into the second period, to make it a 2-1 game. Razmuz Waxin-Engback answered back for the Ice Bears with just 25 seconds remaining in the second period to give Knoxville a 3-1 lead going into the third.
The third period was a tough back and forth battle. Mitchell McPherson added one more for the Rivermen with a strange bounce off the boards to make it a 3-2 game. The Ice Bears had the luck of the Irish and were able to seal the victory with an empty net goal from J.B. Baker for a final score of 4-2.
Check out this gallery from Field Pass Hockey photographer Michael King!
