Knoxville Ice Bears

Cottonmouths bite Bears, lead down to 9

date: 03/13/2009

Pitting the top two seeds against each other often separates the champs from the chumps. As any Ice Bear fan in attendance of Friday night’s match-up between top-seed Knoxville and the second-seeded Columbus Cottonmouths will attest to, the Ice Bears fell on the losing side of the draw, dropping another home game 3-1 to the streaking Cottonmouths, as Columbus extended their winning streak to six.

Following a flurry of powerplay opportunities, including a minute long two-man advantage midway through the first period, the Ice Bears finally connected. Justin Keller survived a double-pronged assault by two Cottonmouths on the left side of the ice to find Chris Rebernik skating towards the goal. Rebernik blasted the assist near-post for his 16th goal of the year to give the Ice Bears a 1-0 lead with 2:13 remaining in the first period.

The energy generated in the first period dissipated into the second, along with the Ice Bear lead. Sloppy defense once again played the villain as neither goal was a particularly brilliant effort. Columbus struck five minutes into the period as Ryan McCarthy redirected a Will Barlow feed past Kirk Irving to tie the game. Lorne Misita put the Cottonmouths on top 2-1 with three minutes remaining when Orrin Hergott’s shot ricocheted off Irving’s pads to the waiting Misita.

Facing a familiar scenario, Knoxville looked to erase the third period deficit. Instead they allowed Columbus to increase their lead. During a 4-on-3 Cottonmouth advantage after a scuffle between Knoxville’s Kevin Swider and Columbus’ Roman Marakhovski that netted both men unsportsmanlike conducts, immediately followed by a hooking call landing Bobby Joe Pelkey alongside Swider in the penalty box. The Ice Bears trapped the loose puck and raced down the ice when Chris Brannen appeared to have found Rebernik for his second goal, only Rebernik was unable to get a handle on the puck and let it slide away innocently. Michael George then took a Tim Green offering past Irving to extend the lead to 3-1, 6:43 left. Adding an extra attacker by pulling the goalie proved fruitless for Coach Scott Hillman as the Ice Bears were unable to tack another one on the board.

 

By Anthony Geist

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