Force, FireAntz, And Marksmen Celebrate Hockey In Fayetteville
A tableau of Fayetteville hockey history took to the ice Saturday night as the Fayetteville teams scored a 4-2, comeback win over the Huntsville Havoc at the Crown Coliseum on Hockey in Fayetteville Night Saturday. The team took to the ice as the Fayetteville Force in the first period, the Fayetteville FirAntz in the second, and ended the night as the Fayetteville Marksmen.
The Fayetteville Force, which had not hit the ice in Fayetteville since 2001, got off to a slow starts as the Havoc jumped out to a two goal lead within 25 seconds in just over 5 minutes of the game. Cam “Sure Can” Cook netting a top shelfer with help from Connor “Fries In The Winter, Fries In The Summer” Fries and a secondary assist from John Moncovich.
Moncovich would get his second assist of the night, only this time it Captain Fries who would net the third period’s only goal for the Fayetteville FireAntz. The Havoc would not be able to answer the FireAntz and the period ended without any other scoring.
Finally it was the Fayetteville Marksmen who returned to the ice for the third period in dominate form. Grant “Mc” Loven would tally the eventual game winning goal under 30 second into the frame. Dalton “Big Game” Hunter and Anthony “Lurkins” Yurkins recorded their 10th and 2nd assists of the season respectively on the Loven goal. The Marksmen added a cushion goal as Simon Boyko scored with 6:22 left in the game. Matt Araujo and Max “Bang Bang Maxwell’s Silver” Johnson would pick up assists on the goal
Conor O’Brien stopped 24 shots for his sixth win of the season which ties him for second in the league.
The party in Fayetteville continued Sunday with a 5-4 OT win over Huntsville to complete the weekend sweep of the Havoc.
Fayetteville trailed the Havoc by 1 at the end of the first and then by two at the end of the second.
In the third things turned for the Marksmen starting with a goal from Anthony Yurkins, followed by a tying goal from Max Johnson. Simon Boyko added his second goal of the weekend to make things 3-2 good guys. A quick goal would knot things up again at 3. With 15 second left, it was Simon Boyko with a break away goal to go up by one.
Goals with under 10 seconds in a game are crippling, but to tie a game and force a game into overtime can ruin a team. That is just want happened, as Huntsville’s Phil Elgstam knocked a pop-up out of the air and sealed the deal for the game.
However, the Marksmen came right out with pick position off the OT faceoff, and it was Grant Loven who called game to send the Marksmen home with the win.
If you haven’t made the trip to a game, you need to be getting yourself down to Fayetteville to take in a game. Crown Colliseum is a great spot for a game, without a bad seat in the joint. TickeT prices are affordable, concessions are solidly prices and actually good. Off the ice, the entertainment is really fun, and the fans stay into the game through three periods.
Pick up tickets for a game and make your way down!