For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Anthony Cinato broke a 2-2 tie at 7:41 of the third period to put Knoxville ahead for good, Dawson McKinney added an insurance marker with just under three minutes remaining and the Knoxville Ice Bears defeated the Birmingham Bulls 4-2 Saturday afternoon at the Pelham Civic Complex to send Knoxville to its first President’s Cup Finals appearance in ten years.
The Ice Bears will face the Evansville Thunderbolts in the finals. Game one is Wednesday in Knoxville at the Civic Coliseum at 7:05 p.m. Game two is Thursday night and Evansville and game three is Sunday afternoon back in Knoxville, if necessary.
Halfway through the first period, Birmingham sprung a two-on-one up the right wing. Brendan Dowler laid out to block a cross-ice pass and won the puck in the right corner where he flipped to Mitch Atkins skating down the left side. Atkins shot the puck from the left circle off of Hayden Stewart’s pad and Ryan Kuzmich poked in the rebound to give the Ice Bears the lead.
Derek Osik gave Knoxville a 2-0 edge going into the first intermission with a power play goal from the left circle. Anthony Cinato and Kodi Schwarz worked the puck back and forth from the high slot to the blue line. Schwarz slid a pass to Osik, who fired from the left dot and beat Hayden Stewart at 18:07.
Stephen Mundinger stopped 38-of-40 shots in the win. He kept Knoxville ahead through the first after stopping back to back shots off a rebound from Kolten Olynek and Troy MacTavish.
Nikita Kozyrev cut the deficit to one for the Bulls when he threw the puck to the front of the crease and it redirected into the net at 7:03 of the second. Andrew Bellant scored on a two-on-one from the left circle with 32 seconds before the break to tie the game heading into the third.
Knoxville killed off an early Birmingham power play before eventually earning one of its own on an interference call against Carson Rose. As the man advantage expired, Schwarz gave the puck to Cinato, who carried up through the neutral zone, deked to make Kozyrev fall down and made his way to the right circle where his shot the puck through Trevor Thurston’s legs and past Stewart’s blocker to give Knoxville a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
With Birmingham pressing to tie late in the third, Jimmy Soper won a defensive zone face-off back to Cam Tobey, who flipped the puck up the right-wing wall into the neutral zone. McKinney knocked the puck down on the ice and fought past a pinching Thurston to create an odd-man rush. McKinney skated to the right circle and ripped the puck over Stewart’s glove top-shelf at 17:03 to seal the game for Knoxville. Stewart finished with 27 saves for the Bulls.
ABOUT The Knoxville Ice Bears: The Knoxville Ice Bears organization began in 2002 and was an inaugural charter member of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) in 2004. As four-time SPHL Champions and five-time regular season champions, the Ice Bears are an experienced and established organization, offering the city and its visitors a balanced product of highlight-reel hockey, unique and exciting intermission activity and endless fan interaction, presenting the most affordable, family-friendly way to enjoy sports and entertainment. Season, Partial Season and Flex Tickets are now on sale. For more information, visit www.knoxvilleicebears.com or call (865) 525-7825.
-xxx-