For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
PELHAM, Ala. — Connor Green stopped all 31 shots he faced for his first career shutout, Davide Gaeta scored the only goal of the game in the second period and the Knoxville Ice Bears defeated the Birmingham Bulls 1-0 at the Pelham Civic Complex Saturday afternoon.
The Ice Bears complete a weekend sweep in which they won three games in three days in three different states. Knoxville has won four straight and took five of six games in the month of October.
Green was challenged early in his season debut for Knoxville. He made a low glove save on Brad Fortin’s spinning backhand in the opening minutes. He later blocked Logan Calder’s redirect and held onto Matt Wiesner’s ensuing rebound. Green then snagged Fortin’s wrist shot with a glove save and stopped Aidan Wagner’s one-timer with a pad save.
Malik Johnson had two of Knoxville’s best chances in the first, but the puck rolled off his stick on a breakaway and his shot from in front missed the short-side post. Redirects by Ryan Kuzmich and Blake Benson wouldn’t go for the Ice Bears.
Birmingham had a scoring chance when a Knoxville breakout pass took an odd bounce, leaving Birmingham with numbers in the zone, but Jack Ring broke up a circle-to-circle pass to help Knoxville escape and ultimately reach the first intermission with a scoreless game.
Gaeta finally broke the scoreless tie with a wrist shot from the blue line. Blake Tosto called for the puck in the neutral zone and fed it sheet-wide to Frankie Ireland on the right wing. Ireland pushed the puck into the corner and won the battle for Gaeta to take it back to the perimeter. Gaeta skated along the blue line before releasing the puck over Talor Joseph’s glove for his fifth goal of the season at 12:00 of the second. Joseph finished with 29 saves.
Birmingham threatened to draw level over the final minutes of the second, but Green got a piece of a shot from the perimeter that then hit the post and Green blocked Wagner’s second chance effort. Tyler Stewart weaved his way into the zone across the high slot and had a scoring chance from the left hash, but Green got just enough of the wrist shot with his glove to push it over the crossbar. Ashton Paul’s wraparound chance found Green’s pad and the Ice Bears tendy stopped Wiesner’s rebound from the slot.
Green got support in front to help thwart several Birmingham opportunities down the stretch before the second intermission. Cam Tobey intercepted a centering pass in front of the crease, Billy Roche caught a feed into the right circle that would’ve setup a Fortin one-timer and Paxton Leroux broke up a pass in the slot to get the puck out of the zone to help the Ice Bears preserve the lead at the second break.
Knoxville held off the Bulls through the third period by limiting Birmingham to just eight shots on goal over the final 20 minutes. Birmingham’s best chance came from Wiesner’s wrist shot in the right circle, but the attempt hit the far-side post and Green held onto Colin Tracy’s follow-up from the left point.
Knoxville welcomes Macon on Thursday night. The Bulls visit Pensacola Sunday afternoon.
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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