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For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Cole McKechney had a goal and an assist, Dawson McKinney and Justin Levac also scored as the Ice Bears were defeated by Quad City 6-3 on Sunday night at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
Knoxville came out strong during the first 20 minutes and closed out the first period with the game tied at 1-1. McKechney tied the game at 18:08 in the first period. Tyler Rollo’s shot from the top of the right circle barely slid past the far side post, where Daryk Dubé-Plouffe regained possession for Knoxville behind the net. Dubé-Plouffe skated to the right circle and passed the puck to Kyle Soper at the point. Soper sent the puck to the left side of the crease where McKechney scored with off the redirect.
Cole Golka scored off a backdoor pass in the left side of the crease for the first goal of the game at 8:27 in the first period.
Weiland Parrish scored on a rebound from the right side of the crease early in the second period. The previous shot attempt came from Golka in the slot before it hit the right-side post. Parrish rebounded the puck giving the Storm a 2-1 lead at 0:45 in the second.
Near the 13-minute mark of the second period, Rollo found Justin Cmunt wide open in the slot where he made two good attempts at tying the score. Cmunt’s first shot was stomached by Brkin before bouncing free to the right side of the crease, Cmunt then made a rebound attempt that barely missed the short side of the net.
Golka scored his second goal of the night at 12:22 in the second period. Leif Mattson carried the puck behind the net, leading on Steeves, before passing it to Golka in the slot. Golka sent the puck into the right side of the net to make it 3-1. After a battle behind the posts, Hayden Hulton regained possession for the Storm and sent the puck to Mattson out front, where he buried a shot into the left side of the net for another Quad City goal at 13:34 in the second. Tyler Vanuden closed out the period with another shot from the slot furthering the Storm’s lead to 5-1 at 17:15 in the second.
Tommy Tsicos brought the score to 6-1 at 5:36 in the third period.
Knoxville regained its momentum in the back end of the third period, and at 13:16 McKinney scored. Anthony Cinato fought off two defenders in the slot and took back possession of the puck as it deflected off a body before sending it to McKinney out left. McKinney finished the play with a wrist shot past Brkin to make it 6-2. Less than one minute later Levac scored on a drive from the slot, assisted by McKechney for his third goal of the year.
Steeves finished with 23 saves, and Knoxville outshot Quad City 32-29.
Knoxville will take on the Huntsville Havoc Friday at the Coliseum.
Sophia Schoenfeld contributed to this report.
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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