Second-year forward Tyson Fawcett scored his first career hat trick Sunday to lead the Evansville IceMen to a 6-4 win over the Fort Wayne Komets at Memorial Coliseum.
Fawcett put Evansville in the lead first when he ripped a one-timer over the glove of Komets goalie Pat Nagle from the left circle on the power play. It was Fawcett’s team-leading 13th goal and third in the last three games.
Fort Wayne answered 29 seconds later when Captain Jamie Schaafsma lifted a shot over the shoulder of Evansville goaltender Scott Greenham. The Komets took their first lead 58 seconds after Schaafsma’s goal, when Shawn Sydlowski beat Greenham on a one-timer from the right circle to give Fort Wayne a 2-1 lead at the first break.
Fawcett added another power play goal early in the second period when he batted a rebound out of the air to tie the score 2-2, but Sydlowski quickly responded with his second of the game. With IceMen captain Jarret Lukin serving a double-minor for high sticking, Sydlowski fired a shot from the point past Greenham to give the Komets a 3-2 lead.
With 2:06 left in the frame, Fawcett completed the hat trick when he deflected an Alex Wideman centering pass through the legs of Nagle to tie the game at 3-3 entering the final period.
Garret Thompson capitalized on a Chris Rumble turnover in the Evansville zone and beat Greenham over the shoulder to put Fort Wayne in front 4-3, but Rumble would have the last laugh late in the game. Daultan Leveille scored an unassisted goal to tie the game 4-4 on a 2-on-1 rush, and Rumble rocketed a slap shot past Nagle with 2:57 left in the game on Evansville’s sixth power play to put the IceMen in front.
Troy Rutkowski finished off the Komets with a full length empty-net goal in the final seconds as Evansville won its third game in five days. Greenham made 29 saves for his third win of the season, while Nagle allowed six goals on 23 IceMen shots. All three IceMen games this weekend saw ten combined goals.
The IceMen return home for three games next week at the Ford Center. Wednesday, the Atlanta Gladiators make their only trip to Evansville for a 6:15pm matchup on College Night. Students who present their college I.D. at the Ford Center Ticket Office will receive discounted tickets as low as $6 for upper level seats.
Evansville then hosts the Indy Fuel Friday and Saturday for two games that start at 7:15pm before a week-long Holiday break. Friday, the IceMen are proud to support Cheyenne’s Hope Farm Sanctuary and the Hebejebe Bluegrass Standardbred Retirement Organization, who specialize in animal rescue. Representatives from those organizations will be at the game collecting donations and selling Chuck-A-Pucks, and Head Coach Al Sims will accompany Cheyenne’s Hope Farm’s ambassador dog, Bishop, on the ice for the ceremonial puck drop.
Saturday will be Evansville’s annual Teddy Bear Toss game, where fans can bring stuffed teddy bears to throw on the ice when the IceMen score their first goal. Those teddy bears will be donated to underprivileged children during the Holiday Season.
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