River Dragons Score 5 Straight To End Game; Win Weekend Over Carolina

Columbus, GA - The Columbus River Dragons ended up with four out of six points after picking up a big win on Saturday night 6-2.

Columbus got on the board first on the power play after Jacob Schnapp was handed down a 2-minute roughing penalty, early in the game. Josh Pietrantonio capitalized on this, making a quick putback goal off of a rebound to put the River Dragons up 1-0. The Thunderbirds tied things up at the 6:44 mark with an even strength goal from Jackson Tucker assisted by Daniel Martin that came about through a defensive miscommunication underneath the goal line. 

Two minutes from the end of the period a power play goal from Gus Ford following a tripping call on Dalton Anderson gave the Thunderbirds a 2-1 lead heading into the locker room.

A few minutes into the second period, at the 3:13 mark, Jay Croop tied things up 2-2 with a power move to the net and sniped the back bar past Chris Paulin. After Dawson Baker was called for high-sticking at 8:17, putting the River Dragons on the power play, Hunter Bersani was able to convert on the power play at the 9:02 mark with a tip in goal to give the River Dragons the lead back at 3-2. Dalton Anderson kept the momentum going with a quick breakaway goal of his own at the 19:44 mark, assisted by Pietrantonio. 

Midway through the third period George Holt and M J Graham were involved in an altercation that resulted in a roughing penalty for Holt and an ejection for Graham (5 minutes for fighting and a game misconduct). The Thunderbirds pulled their goalie at the 18:10 mark to try and capitalize on a 6-on-4 situation, but nine seconds later Jagger Williamson was able to take advantage of this with a shorthanded empty net goal to put the River Dragons up 5-2. Austin Daae found an empty net goal of his own to give him a 7-game goal streak and conclude the game’s action with 34 seconds remaining in regulation, giving the River Dragons a 6-2 win.

Jared rutledge got the win with a 29-save effort, Chris Paulin took the loss with 32 saves on 36 shots.

Three Stars of the Game

Josh Pietrantonio
Paul Fregeau
Jared Rutledge