Columbus Takes The Weekend Series After 5-2 Win on Saturday
Columbus, GA - The River Dragons put themselves on a 2-game win streak as they defeated the Port Huron Prowlers in the third of a 3-in-3, 5-2 on Saturday night. The River Dragons took two of three in the series to win the weekend.
The River Dragons wasted no time getting themselves on the board with Hunter Bersani scoring at just the 46 second mark after a fake shot and backhand deke to beat Joe Noonan put Columbus up 1-0. Bersani struck again to double the lead, this time finding the back of the net with a shot nicely set up by Austin Daae and Josh Pietrantonio at the 4:14 mark to extend the lead to 2-0 for the River Dragons. Daae picked up a goal of his own towards the end of the period with a put back from beneath the goal line. Pietrantonio and Anderson picked up assists at the 16:54 mark to put Columbus up 3-0.
Jared Rutledge shut down the Prowlers in the first, putting a stop to 14 shots that allowed Columbus to end the period strong in front by a score of 3-0.
The second period saw a shift in energy in favor of the Prowlers outshooting the Dragons 12-4 in the middle frame. Midway through the period at the 11:06 mark, Isaiah Crawford was able to tally the first goal of the night for the Prowlers that shortened the Columbus lead to 3-1 and marked the only goal of the period.
Chaos in front of the goal allowed for Levi Armstrong to slip one past Joe Noonan on a put back at the 9:11 mark to put the River Dragons up 4-1.
Port Huron answered back with a tap-in goal from the front of the net by Zachary Fresura on the power play put the Prowlers within two of the River Dragons at the 11:52 mark.
46 seconds later though, on a breakaway Josh Pietrantonio put one past Noonan after a inside-out Forsberg-esque move to stretch the lead to 5-2 at the 12:39 mark.
A brawl broke out in front of the River Dragons bench with less than a minute left in the period that saw several players from both teams as well as head coach for the Dragons, Jerome Bechard, ejected.
Jared Rutledge got the win in back-to-back nights making 38 saves on 40 Port Huron shots. Joe Noonan suffers the loss with 23 saves on 28 shots.
Columbus now gets ready to welcome in the Binghamton Black Bears in a two-game set at the Civic Center. Both puck drops are at 7:30 and Saturday is Teddy Bear Toss night! Bring your new and gently used stuffed animals and throw them on to the ice Saturday for a great cause!
Three Stars of the Game
Josh Pietrantonio
Hunter Bersani
Jared Rutledge