Evansville, Ind. – The Evansville IceMen had their four-game home winning streak snapped on Friday night by the Trenton Titans at the Ford Center. The IceMen rallied back from two separate two-goal deficits to tie the game at three apiece with 9:14 remaining in the third period, but were unable to contain the Titans as they scored three goals in the final seven minutes of regulation.
IceMen Forward Dylan Clarke scored the game-tying goal 11:16 into the third period off of a favorable lead pass from Right Winger Jim McKenzie. The second assist was credited to IceMen Center Nathan Moon. Moon notched his second point of the game on the Clarke goal. Clarke, the game’s third star, now has eight goals on the season.
Evansville was unable to capitalize on the equalizer at that point, as Trenton Forward Kory Nagy proceeded to add the eventual game-winning goal for the Titans. The goal gave the Titans a 4-3 lead and officially came 12:58 into the final period. Titans Forwards Ian Slater and Jacob Cepis were credited with assists on the goal that gave Trenton the momentum once again.
Trenton Forward Ryan Hayes opened the scoring with his third goal of the season 13:11 into the first period. The game’s opening goal came on the power play and was assisted by Defenseman Blake Kessel and Forward Andy Bohmbach.
The second goal of the game for the Titans came exactly one minute later at the 14:11 mark when Defenseman Connor Goggin scored his second of the season. Goggin’s goal was a result of an awkward bounce off the boards. Credited assists were from Forwards Marcel Noebels and Jacob Drewiske.
Evansville entered the second period with a two-goal disadvantage, but cut that deficit in half at the 9:07 mark of the stanza when IceMen Left Winger Josh Beaulieu tallied his 12th goal of the season, this one coming on the power play. Assisting on the first IceMen goal of the game was Center Todd Robinson and Defenseman Matt Gens. Robinson leads the team in assists with 19.
Trenton responded later in the period when Center Phil DeSimone gave the Titans their second power play goal, and their second two-goal lead of the game 14:12 into the middle frame. The Titans owned its third power play goal of the game, as well as its third two-goal lead 15:44 into the third period when Cepis compounded his second point of the game. Cepis’ goal gave the Titans a 5-3 lead late in the final period and trickled to the eventual empty-net goal scored by Trenton’s Bohmbach with 1:31 remaining in regulation.
Evansville’s Moon was the third goal scorer for the IceMen on Friday, sniping his way to his tenth goal of the season at the 18:01 mark of the second period. Moon is the second IceMen player to reach the 10-goal plateau this season. Moon’s goal was unassisted off a Trenton turnover.
IceMen Goaltender Paul Dainton received the loss, saving 22-of-27 shots faced. The winning goalie was Trenton’s Niko Hovinen on his way to a .897 save percentage. Hovinen saved 29-of-29 shots faced.
Evansville outshot Trenton by a slight margin of 29-28. The IceMen power play was on the ice twice against the Titans, going 1-for-2 on the night. The Titans man advantage was able to produce against a stingy IceMen penalty killing unit. Trenton went 3-for-8 for the game.
With their first loss at home since Nov. 18, the IceMen decline their season record to 30(10-17-3) for a total of 23 points. Trenton improves to 27(12-11-4)28 on the season with the victory.
Evansville will play host to the Kalamazoo Wings on Saturday, Dec. 22 as they continue their six-game home stand. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m. and will be broadcasted by ‘Magic 98.5’ FM and 1400 AM WEOA, as well as the rest of the IceMen Radio Network.
