MONROE, LA – The Monroe Moccasins closed out their 56 game regular season with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Athens Rock Lobsters on Saturday night at the Monroe Civic Center.
With the loss, Monroe fell to 35-10-8-3-0 on the season, finishing with 119 points, while Athens improved to 35-11-1-5-4 with 124 points. The Moccasins were swept in the final weekend series and finished 2-7-4 against the Rock Lobsters this season, including a 18-6-3-1-0 record at home.
Monroe will now turn its attention to the Commissioner’s Cup Playoffs, where they will face the Columbus River Dragons in the opening round with home-ice advantage.
Athens opened the scoring at 6:33 of the first period on a goal from Dustin Perillat, but Monroe answered on the power play at 10:14 as Frank Schumacher tied the game finishing off a rebound in front.
The Moccasins took control in the second period. Hagan Moe gave Monroe its first lead at 6:15 before Jamie Dorsey extended it on the power play at 7:49, finishing a setup from Carlos Fornaris and goaltender Nolan Egbert to make it 3–1.
Athens began its push early in the third period as Josh Koepplinger scored at 1:09 in his first game with the Rock Lobsters after signing earlier in the week. Monroe responded at 4:22 when Kyler Matthews restored the two-goal lead to make it 4-2. The Rock Lobsters rallied late in regulation. Perillat scored his second of the night at 14:00 before Carter Shinkaruk tied the game at 16:58, forcing overtime.
In the extra session, Gus Ford scored the game-winner at 1:04, his 14th goal with Athens since being acquired in a trade from the Twin City Thunderbirds. Fornaris recorded two assists for Monroe, while the Moccasins and Rock Lobsters finished nearly even in shots, with Athens holding a slight 42–41 edge.
Athens earned the weekend sweep despite missing several key players, including Garrett Milan, Eric Neilly, Malik Johnson, Filip Virgili, Daniil Glukarev and Gleb Bandurkin.
Monroe finished the regular season with eight OT/SO losses, the most in the FPHL. They also played in 14 one-goal games, going 2-1-8-3-0 in those contests. The Moccasins will now prepare for the postseason, set to host the River Dragons next week in the opening round of the Commissioner’s Cup Playoffs.
source: Monroe Moccasins – Read More
