For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Jimmy Soper and Dawson McKinney scored 52 seconds apart to put Knoxville ahead for good, Stephen Mundinger made 30 saves and the Ice Bears defeated the Quad City Storm 3-1 Friday night at Vibrant Arena in Moline, Ill for their fourth straight win.
Derek Osik also scored for Knoxville, winners of six of its last seven. The loss snapped a three-game win streak for Quad City.
The teams combined for 27 first period shots, but went to the first intermission with no score. Mundinger stopped a close range shot from Brandon Stojcevski and caught a one-timer from Leif Mattson with his left shoulder. Brent Moran made a stick save on Brendan Dowler’s attempt from the right circle and denied McKinney with the pad.
Dylan Massie opened the scoring at 8:17 of the second period to give the Storm a 1-0 lead. The puck kicked off of Kyle Soper’s skate in the Knoxville zone and Massie found the puck in the slot before putting it past Mundinger.
Knoxville evened the score with Jimmy Soper’s 12th goal of the year. Ryan Kuzmich took the puck into the zone up the middle and slipped a backhand pass to Mitch Atkins on the right wing. Atkins fired a pass to Soper on the backdoor for the tap-in at 11:22.
McKinney gave Knoxville the lead less than a minute later with a drag shot from the right circle. Kodi Schwarz slipped the puck up the wing to McKinney, who created space in the circle before ripping the puck over Moran for his 24th of the season.
Knoxville remained aggressive on the forecheck throughout the remainder of the game and limited Quad City to 17 shots over the final 40 minutes. Mundinger stopped Alex Hudson’s attempt from the left circle with the glove with about three minutes remaining and the Storm never threatened again. Osik scored on the empty net with two seconds left to conclude the scoring detail.
The two teams will conclude the weekend with another matchup at Vibrant Arena Saturday night.
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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