MONROE, LA – The Monroe Moccasins and Columbus River Dragons delivered a high-intensity, playoff-like battle Thursday night, but in the end, Columbus came out on top with a 4-3 shootout victory at Monroe Civic Center.
The River Dragons (25-15-4-4-1, 90 points) extended their dominance over Monroe, claiming their fifth consecutive victory against the Moccasins (17-21-8-1-3, 70 points). Columbus struck first on the power play at 9:03 of the first period, with Alex Storjohann hammering home a shot from the slot. The Moccasins answered immediately as Hugo Koch buried a feed from Yianni Liarakos just 37 seconds later. Minutes later Corey Cunningham capitalized on a crisp setup from Seth Bacon to make it 2-1.
Columbus refused to back down, and with just under five minutes left in the first, Storjohann struck again on the man advantage knotting the game at 2-2. The River Dragons carried that momentum into the second period, where Alexander Jmaeff slipped it past Sean Kuhn to put Columbus back on top 3-2.
Just over three minutes later, Liarakos found the net off a rebound, tying the game at 3-3. From there, both teams traded scoring chances, but neither side could find the go-ahead goal in a nail-biting third period or overtime, setting the stage for a shootout. In the skills shootout Columbus Austin Daae was the hero, scoring the lone goal to seal as Trevor Babin stopped all three Monroe shooters.
Monroe will look to bounce back Friday night in Game 2 of this three-game series as their playoff push continues.
source: Monroe Moccasins – Read More
