MONROE, LA – The Monroe Moccasins returned home in winning fashion Friday night, defeating the Columbus River Dragons 6-4 at the Monroe Civic Center after a 13-game road trip.
Monroe improved to 34-9-7-3-0 on the season following their 21-day road trip, where the Moccasins went 8-2-3. With three games remaining, Monroe sits four points out of first place in the Continental Division. With the win, the Moccasins improved to 5-0-2 against the River Dragons this season.
Monroe opened the scoring at 4:39 of the first period when Jared Christy found the back of the net, extending the team’s record to 24-7-1 when scoring first. Columbus responded with a pair of goals from Bradley Fortin and Alexander Jmaeff to take a 2–1 lead. Casey Gerstein evened the game on the power play at 16:54 to send the teams into the intermission tied 2–2.
The Moccasins regained the lead in the second period as Isaiah Frankel scored at 13:17, finishing a breakaway set up by Dean Balsamo and Kyler Matthews. Balsamo, appearing in his first game since Feb. 22, recorded an assist in his return. Columbus answered late in the period as Jmaeff netted his second of the night at 17:16 to tie the game 3-3 heading into the third.
Monroe pulled ahead early in the third period when Gerstein scored his second power-play goal of the night at 7:07 off a feed from Christy. Columbus answered just under two minutes later as Alex Storjohann tied the game at 4-4.
The Moccasins broke through late in regulation as Carlos Fornaris scored on the power play at 16:33, extending his point streak to 18 games. Christy added an empty-net goal at 18:37 to seal the victory and cap a five-point night.
Christy led the way with two goals and three assists, while Gerstein added two goals in the win. Monroe outshot Columbus 44-23, including an 18-4 edge in the third period.
Both two teams will meet again Saturday night at the Civic Center in the final regular-season matchup between the clubs. The series could serve as a preview of a potential first-round playoff matchup in a best-of-three series as the Moccasins close out the regular season at home.
source: Monroe Moccasins – Read More
