For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Brett Mecrones scored twice, Garrett Milan had two assists and the Knoxville Ice Bears fell to the Pensacola Ice Flyers 5-4 at the Pensacola Bay Center Friday night.
Cam Hough had two goals and an assist for Knoxville. Jordy Stallard had two assists. Skate Skalde and Seth Ensor also scored.
Mitch Atkins put Pensacola on the board early when Milan slid him a pass on the backdoor just 3:06 into the game. Knoxville’s clearing attempt hit a skater and the puck bounced to Milan in the right circle allowing him to feed Atkins with Knoxville scrambling.
Skalde leveled the game less than two minutes later with a backhand from the left circle. Justin Levac fed Skalde with an entry pass on the right wing. Skalde crossed over to the left side where he lifted his backhand past Kaden Fulcher’s blocker for his second goal of the year.
Mecrones scored twice before the first intermission after locating a pair of loose pucks by the crease. He cleaned up one loose puck at 6:35 and another at 14:26 to give the Ice Flyers a 3-1 lead at the break.
Cooper Jones gave the Ice Flyers a 4-1 lead less than a minute into the second with a wrist shot from the left side.
Hough scored his first of the season when he slapped in a loose puck in the crease at 3:45. Tyler Rollo collected the puck in the left circle and fired it on net. The puck got away from Fulcher and Hough put it on net to cut the deficit to two.
Ensor scored his first as an Ice Bear with a snipe from atop the right circle. Rollo dropped him the puck from the left wall and Ensor pinpointed his wrist shot top shelf over Fulcher’s blocker at 16:07.
Pensacola took a 5-3 lead into the second intermission when the puck slipped out in front of the crease from behind the Knoxville net and Brendan Soucie put it to the far side post with no chance for Kristian Stead with just two seconds remaining in the period. Stead finished with 37 saves.
Hough scored with a wrist shot from the slot with 1:27 remaining, but the Ice Bears couldn’t draw even and ran out of time. Fulcher finished with 27 saves for the Ice Flyers.
The two teams will face off again on Saturday night at the Hangar to complete a three-game weekend for both teams.
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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