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menuRIVER DRAGONS SCORE LATE TO TOP RIVER SHARKS 4-3
COLUMBUS, GA - Josh Pietrantonio scored twice and Justin MacDonald extended his scoring streak to 13 games as the Columbus River Dragons outlasted the Elmira River Sharks 4-3 on Friday night at the Columbus Civic Center.
The game was a back-and-forth affair, with Columbus jumping on the board first just 4:18 into the game on Pietrantonio’s first goal of the game from Austin Daae and Hunter Bersani, but Elmira rallied to tie the game right before the intermission on a goal from Davide Gaeta.
In the second, former River Dragon Steven Klink put his team ahead on a breakaway goal at 1:12 to make it 2-1 River Sharks. But the River Dragons responded with Pietrantonio’s second goal of the night at 10:11 followed by Ryan Hunter’s eighth goal of the season to take a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.
In the third, Elmira once again tied the game at 13:19 on a Darius Davidson goal, setting the stage for a tense finish.
After killing off a late five-on-three power play, Columbus got a big goal with just 1:31 left from MacDonald, who broke down the right wing and wristed a shot just inside the far post past the right pad of Elmira goalie Eli Bowers (32 saves) for the game-winning goal.
Columbus then had to kill of a boarding call with just 1:11 remaining to secure the victory. Breandan Colgan earned the win with 22 saves.
Notes:
MacDonald now has points in 13 straight games (11-15-26)
Austin Daae extended his scoring streak to seven games (3-9-12)
The River Dragons top-ranked penalty kill finished the game 4-for-5 including a five-on-three stretch of 1:10 in the third period when the game was tied.
Tonight and tomorrow night are the only two meetings of the regular season between the River Sharks and River Dragons.
Columbus remains the only team in the league unbeaten at home at 8-0-1.
The same two teams face off again tomorrow night at 7:05 pm. Tickets are on sale for all remaining River Dragons home games through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.