For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Tyler Williams and Jared Westcott each had four-point nights, Blake Tosto had three assists and the Knoxville Ice Bears erupted for six goals in the second period en route to a 7-4 win over the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs at the Berglund Center Wednesday night.
Ryan Kuzmich scored twice for Knoxville while Carson Vance and Ryan Orgel also scored. Billy Roche had two assists in his first game in Roanoke since being traded to Knoxville from the Rail Yard Dawgs earlier this season.
Kuzmich scored the only goal of the first period when he put a rebound back on net at 5:38 for his second goal of the season. Tosto carried the puck up the left wing and sent a shoot low from the left circle off Austyn Roudebush’s pad. The puck came out to the slot where Kuzmich flipped it past Roudebush to put Knoxville on the board first.
Noah Giesbrecht did his part to keep Knoxville in front at the intermission. He stopped Travis Broughman on a wraparound attempt and later made a glove save on Joseph Widmar’s wrist shot from the right circle with Roanoke on an odd-man rush.
Williams and Orgel scored 18 seconds apart to grow Knoxville’s lead. Williams fired a dart from the right circle to the far side post by Roudebush’s blocker and Orgel followed it up with a one-timer from the left circle off a crossing pass from Tosto.
Westcott made it 4-0 when he poked in a loose puck after Roudebush stopped an attempt from the right wing and the puck sat in front for Westcott to push through for his fourth of the season at 8:14. The fourth goal ended Roudebush’s night with 12 saves on 16 shots. He was pulled for Brody Claeys, who finished with eight saves on 11 shots.
Williams netted his second goal of the evening when Tosto found him on the backdoor on a transition play at 11:28. Westcott worked the puck into the zone with Williams and dropped it back to Tosto atop the right circle. Tosto slid the puck to Williams, who had snuck behind the defense and converted the tap-in for his sixth of the season.
Vance converted a power play with a one-timer through traffic from the blue line that made its way past Claeys at 16:45.
Kuzmich got his second when Westcott found him in front of the crease alone from the left-wing wall to make it 7-0 with less than two minutes remaining in the second.
Matt O’Dea scored twice in the third for Roanoke. Joe Widmar and Gustav Müller also added goals in the final frame. Giesbrecht made 35 saves.
Knoxville visits Huntsville on Thursday for a Thanksgiving Day game. Roanoke hosts Fayetteville on Friday.
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.
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