RIVER DRAGONS ADVANCE WITH 8-0 BLANKING OF SEA WOLVES

COLUMBUS, GA - The Columbus River Dragons closed out their Continental Division Semifinal series with an 8-0 win over the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Friday night at the Columbus Civic Center.

A scoreless first period gave way to Columbus finally breaking the deadlock 3:50 into the second period when Austin Daae tipped a point shot from Nathan Balkwill past Joe Sheppard (38 saves) for his first of two goals on the night. Justin MacDonald (2-1-3) and Cody Wickline (1-0-1) would both score before the end of the period, but perhaps the tipping point of the game happened at 13:40 when Mississippi appeared to score a goal but it was waved off for a kicking motion. Instead of 2-1, the game would go to 3-0 when Wickline scored less than a minute later.

Columbus poured on five goals in the third, with both Daae and MacDonald notching their second of the night plus singles from Ryan Hunter, Alex Storjohann and Alex Jmaeff.

Breandan Colgan made 20 saves for the shutout and his second straight win.

Notes:

• Columbus scored 15 goals in the series after having topped the six-goals-or-more plateau 20 times in the regular season.

• Daae, Storjohann and MacDonald led the way with three goals each in the series.

• Breandan Colgan stopped 20 saves for the shutout, and in the series posted a .961 save percentage and 1.00 goals against average.

• Kyle Moore posted three assists in the game for his first points of the playoffs.

• Storjohann and Daae lead the team in overall scoring with six points.

The River Dragons now await the winner of the Carolina Thunderbirds vs. Port Huron Prowlers series. Columbus has home ice advantage through the remainder of the Commissioners Cup Playoffs. Tickets are on sale for all remaining River Dragons playoff games through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.