Records:  Evansville: 19-25-6-2; Atlanta: 29-19-4-2

Goalies:   ATL – Patterson (W), 14-7-2-1, 18 saves

               EVN – Greenham (SOL), 6-5-1-1, 36 saves

Scoring:

1^st Period: 1. EVN – Sims 12 (Fawcett, 3:39); 2. EVN – Zay 6 (Harrison, Hagaman, 8:22); 3. ATL – Phillips 1 (Nunn, Albers, 9:41); 4. ATL – Frazee 11 (Register, Stejskal, 11:20); 5. ATL – Frazee 12 (PP, Register, Nesbitt, 19:27)

2^nd Period:  6. EVN – Penny 5 (Himelson, Trebish, 11:51)

3^rd Period:  No Scoring

Overtime:  No Scoring

Shootout: EVN – Leveille (save), Penny (save), Moon (save); ATL – Phillips (save), Nesbitt (goal)

EVANSVILLE, IN – The Evansville IceMen earned a point in their fifth straight home game Friday at the Ford Center, but the Atlanta Gladiators edged the IceMen in a shootout. It was the first of two games between the two teams this weekend, as Evansville celebrates Pink the Rink Weekend.

Two goals in the first half of the first period put the IceMen in front 2-0 in a high-scoring opening period. Jordan Sims scored on the first Evansville shot when he beat Atlanta goalie Kent Patterson with a backhander through the legs on a 2-on-1 rush 3:39 into the game. Then Matthew Zay picked up a rebound off of the post and jammed the puck under Patterson’s right pad at 8:22.

The Gladiators answered in a big way, as Zach Phillips scored his first ECHL goal on a one-timer at 9:41. Former IceMen forward Thomas Frazee then struck twice against his old team. He first fired a shot into the top of the net from the left circle to tie the game at 11:20. Frazee then gave Atlanta the lead entering the first intermission, when he tipped a shot in front of Evansville goalie Scott Greenham on a power play with 33 seconds left in the period.

Rookie Ryan Penny tied the game for Evansville midway through the second period, when he deflected a point shot from Andrew Himelson past Patterson. It was Penny’s third point in his first two games since rejoining the IceMen from Binghamton in the AHL. Atlanta outshot Evansville 21-11 through two periods of play, but Greenham made several key saves in the middle frame to keep the game tied 3-3 after two.

Greenham made 14 more saves in the third period, and Patterson stopped seven, as the two teams skated into overtime for the second time this season. After no scoring in the extra period, Derek Nesbitt pocketed the only shootout goal against Greenham to send the Gladiators to a 4-3 win.

The IceMen and Gladiators meet one more time Saturday at 7:15pm at the Ford Center to wrap up Pink the Rink Weekend. Evansville will again wear its special black and pink jerseys, which will be auctioned off after the game. A portion of the proceeds from the auction will go to Susan G. Komen Foundation benefitting breast cancer research.

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UPCOMING HOME GAMES

Sat. 2/27 – Atlanta at Evansville (7:15pm) – Ford Center

                        Pink the Rink Weekend – Jersey Auction

Fri. 3/4 – Tulsa at Evansville (7:15pm) – Ford Center

                        Colon Cancer Awareness Night / Book Drive Kick Off

Sat. 3/5 – Tulsa at Evansville (7:15pm) – Ford Center

                        Book Drive

Sun. 3/6 – Wichita at Evansville (5:15pm) – Ford Center

                        Faith Night / Subway Family Night / Last Day of Book Drive

Aces To Play Final Regular Season Game Tomorrow

For the final time in the regular season, University of Evansville seniors D.J. Balentine, Egidijus Mockevicius and Adam Wing will take to the Ford Center floor as they are set to wrap up the season looking for their 24^th victory of the season when they face UNI on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The first 5,000 fans will receive a commemorative Senior Day print courtesy of ARC Construction Company.  Fans are encouraged to be in their seats early as Senior Day ceremonies will begin roughly 15 minutes before the game.  Following the contest, the trio along with head coach Marty Simmons, will address the crowd.

A great crowd is expected as the lower bowl of the Ford Center is sold out and upper bowl seating is now available.  Walk-up tickets will be available until game time or online at Ticketmaster.com.

The regular season comes to an end as the Purple Aces wrap it up with a huge game against UNI.  Evansville is guaranteed to be either the #2 or 3 seed in the MVC as the squad heads to Arch Madness; the Aces are tied with Illinois State and an ISU loss and UE win on Saturday would guarantee UE the second seed.  Should the schools be tied following the regular season, the tiebreaker will come down to whoever has the higher RPI according to Jim Sukup’s RPI Report on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 28.

UE picked up its 23rd victory of the season, taking a 67-55 win at Bradley on Tuesday evening.  It was the duo of D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius leading the way; Balentine totaled 22 points, hitting the 20-point mark for the third game in a row.  Mockevicius notched his 8th double-double in a row and NCAA-leading 25th of the season, finishing with 20 points and 17 rebounds.  He officially broke the program mark for rebounds in the win and is the first in program history to notch 1,200 in his career; he currently has 1,202 in his career.

Saturday will be the final home game for a senior class that includes: D.J. Balentine, Egidijus Mockevicius and Adam Wing.  The three have led the Aces to 20+ wins in three of their four years with the program, something not done by a senior class at UE since 1994.  Head coach Marty Simmons has led UE to Senior Day wins in seven of the last eight years.

UNI begins Saturday with a record of 18-12 and 10-7 in the Valley, they are guaranteed the #4 or 5 seed heading into Arch Madness.  The Panthers are coming off of a dominant 66-44 win over Indiana State in their home finale on Wednesday as seniors Wes Washpun and Matt Bohannon led the way.  Washpun totaled a game-high 16 points while Bohannon had 14 points and 7 rebounds; he also knocked down four three-pointers as UNI shot 45.3% and held the Sycamores to just 27.3% shooting.  Overall, Washpun leads UNI with 14.1 points per game and a conference-leading total of 163 assists.  Bohannon checks in with 12.5 PPG and is one of the top outside shooters in the league, hitting 42.9% of his long range attempts.