Team effort carries Riverman past Havoc in SPHL semis

Seven different shooters contributed in a 7-3 win at the Peoria Civic Center as the host Rivermen captured a 7-3 victory in the third and deciding game of its Best of Three Southern Professional Hockey League Semi-Final contest against the Huntsville Havoc on Saturday (April 22).

Home teams won all three games in the series, the Rivermen capturing a 5-2 win in the opener Wednesday afternoon, but suffering a 4-3 overtime setback in the second game at PharmarcyFirst Ice in Huntsville Friday.

Peoria native Alec Hagaman got his hometown squad on the board just 3:18 into the contest but Mike Piluso struck back for the Havoc 53 seconds later.

Goals by Cody Dion and Brandon Greenside just over a minute apart helped the Rivermen carry a 3-1 lead out of the opening period but Nolan Kaiser scored the only goal of the second to get the visiting Havoc back to within a goal with 20 minutes to play.

Dan Bremner restored the two-goal margin with his goal for the Rivermen with 7:34 to play and Connor Gorman added some insurance with 5:26 to go.

A desperate Havoc squad had goaltender Tyler Steel race to the bench and that helped as Kyle Sharkey made it a 5-3 game with 1:33 to play.

Any thoughts of a Havoc uprising though were erased with empty net goals by both Dakota Klecha, a native of Taylor, MI with 1:20 to go and then another by Jeff Jones 40 seconds from the buzzer.

Storm Phaneuf collected the win in goal for the Rivermen turning aside 29 of 32 Havoc shots. Steel made 14 saves for the Huntsville squad.

With the win, the Rivermen advance to its second straight Commissioner’s Cup Championship series. Last season the Rivermen were swept in a Best of Five Series by the Ice Pilots. This time around the Rivermen will meet the top seeded Macon Mayhem in a Best of Three championship series.