EVANSVILLE, Indiana – The Evansville IceMen (10-14-0-2) gained an early advantage and never looked back as they defeated the Cincinnati Cyclones (14-6-2-0) by a 4-1 final score in front of 5,394 at Ford Center on Saturday night.
The IceMen jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of lucky bounces. At 12:46, Nathan Moon grabbed a loose puck that redirected off of a body in front and potted his ninth of the year to give his team a 1-0 lead. Just a few minutes later, at 15:24, Brian O’Hanley lost an edge and fell down right along the Cincinnati goal line; right there to get the puck was Josh Beaulieu who lifted in his 11th goal of the season over Brian Foster (L, 26 saves, 11-1-2-0) for a 2-0 cushion. Evansville carried the two-goal edge into the first intermission.
The Cyclones cut the deficit in half midway through the middle stanza, when Mike Embach slammed in a rebound past Allen York (W, 26 saves, 3-1-0-1) at 9:59 for his third goal of the season – making it a 2-1 game. Despite several more scoring chances for both sides in the second half of the period, the IceMen remained ahead by a goal through 40 minutes.
Evansville regained their two-goal lead at the 4:18 mark of the final frame, when Beaulieu hit Dylan Clarke with a pass in the slot. After skating between the circles, Clarke wrested in his sixth goal of the season to make it 3-1 Evansville. In an attempt to tie it in the final minutes, the Cyclones pulled Foster for the extra attacker. Unfortunately, Jason Dale chased a dumped puck into the Cincinnati zone and hit the empty net to seal a 4-1 victory for the IceMen.
The Cyclones Radio Network Stars of the Game are as follows:
First Star: Josh Beaulieu (1 goal, 3 assists for Evansville)
Second Star: Nathan Moon (1 goal for Evansville)
Third Star: Allen York (26 saves for Evansville)
The Cyclones will return to the ice at U.S. Bank Arena on Wednesday, December 12 when they play host to the Florida Everblades at 7:30pm
