For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
PELHAM, Ala. — The Knoxville Ice Bears fell behind early and couldn’t recover in a 3-1 loss to the Birmingham Bulls at the Pelham Civic Complex Friday night.
Birmingham opened the scoring when Matt Wiesner pinched the puck along the half-wall in the Knoxville zone and his centering pass found Tyler Stewart all alone in front of the crease. Stewart’s one-timer beat the glove side of Connor Green to make it 1-0 Bulls at 4:47.
Jordan Gagnon scored off a rebound at 8:33 for Birmingham after Aiden Wagner’s shot from the left circle missed the short-side post, but bounced off the back wall and out to the right side of the crease for Gagnon. Drake Glover scored off a face-off draw at 14:31 by striking the puck from the left dot that went bar-down on Green to give Birmingham a 3-0 lead at the first intermission.
Knoxville nearly got on the board late in the second period, but Kyle Kozma slid to his left to stop Blake Benson’s attempt from the right side of the crease and Kozma punched away Ryan Lieth’s perimeter chance with the blocker.
Green continued to compete well in the second period for Knoxville, stopping Colin Tracy’s one-timer from the right dot and later denying Gagnon’s quick strike from the bottom of the right circle. He made a glove save on Stewart’s close-range wrist shot and made a diving save on Andre Sutter’s rebound in the waning seconds of the period.
Jack Ring scored his first career goal and he made a move around a Birmingham skater in the left circle, carried the puck into the corner and had his centering feed hit a Birmingham skate and sneak past Kozma at 7:00 of the third.
Knoxville nearly cut the deficit further, but Kozma stopped a rebound with two minutes remaining and fought off several perimeter chances with Green pulled for the extra attacker.
The Ice Bears return home to face Huntsville Sunday afternoon. Birmingham is in Athens 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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