For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Brett Ouderkirk scored twice in the first seven minutes of the game and the Knoxville Ice Bears beat the Fayetteville Marksmen 5-2 at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum Friday night.
Brady Fleurent, Justin MacDonald and Razmuz Waxin-Engback also scored for Knoxville and Jimmy Poreda made 25 saves to pick up the win in his first start of the year.
Ouderkirk opened the scoring when he received an entry pass on the left wing for a two-on-one. Ouderkirk carried the puck back toward the slot, maneuvered around Vincenzo Renda and fired a wrist shot past Brent Moran to give Knoxville an early lead at 1:23.
Ouderkirk doubled Knoxville’s lead when he pushed a loose puck in front of the crease back into the net at 6:46. MacDonald fired a cross-ice pass from the left wall and Fleurent freed the puck away from Moran. The rebound sat in front of the crease where Ouderkirk pounced on it. Ouderkirk nearly completed the hat-trick with three minutes remaining in the first period, but his wrist shot from the left circle bounced off the near-side post.
Fleurent made it 3-0 when he got a piece of the puck in front of the crease while screening Moran at 7:21 of the second. Tanner Salsberry slapped the puck from the left side and Fleurent redirected it under Moran for his fourth goal of the season.
MacDonald scored his second of the season at 12:07 to make it 4-0. Waxin-Engback zipped a wrister into the net at 15:56 on the power play to give Knoxville a five-goal lead and end Moran’s night with just 16 saves. He was replaced by Jason Pawloski, who stopped all ten shots he faced.
Andrew Lane scored a power play goal from the blue line to end the shutout at 18:31 and get the Marksmen on the board before the second intermission. Carlos Fornaris scored 21 seconds into the third, but the Marksmen couldn’t get closer as the Ice Bears killed off five Fayetteville power plays.
The Ice Bears hit the road on Saturday to face the Birmingham Bulls. Fayetteville is off until next Friday when it visits Roanoke.
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-