Mustangs Sweep Power; Visit Rochester This Weekend
Story by Connor Kelly
Written 11/9/20
MUSTANGS SWEEP POWER IN MEQUON:
The Peoria Mustangs secured their first road victories of their still young season as they swept the Milwaukee Power this past Friday and Saturday night. With both games taking place at the Ozaukee Ice Center in Mequon, WI due to COVID-19 restrictions in Milwaukee, the Mustangs once again found themselves in a new arena. The previous time was last road series against the Oregon Tradesmen in Janesville, WI. After a tough road series in Janesville, the Mustangs proved that they were ready to take two on the road.
GAME 1 (11/6/20): On Friday night, the Mustangs got off to a quick start with Rickey Jones tallying his first goal of the night on a powerplay with assists from Ethan Chesney and Ibrahim Arifi at the 12:06 mark of the 1st. Momentum of the game quickly switched in the 2nd frame as the Power came out of the locker room with authority scoring 3 unanswered goals. Deja vu struck the Mustangs as Trey Bess continued his special teams dominance against the Mustangs by scoring yet another shorthanded goal. That goal marked the 4th shorthanded goal scored by Bess against the Mustangs in the past 3 meetings. The two other goals were tallied by Teddy Marion and Garrett Alton.
After an all-Power 2nd frame, the Mustangs came out firing on all cylinders as they would not be denied the chance to score their first road victory. Connor Bennett started the ferocious comeback at the 6:31 mark of the 3rd on a powerplay goal to trim the Power lead to 3-2. Rickey Jones would continue his aggressiveness on the offensive end scoring his second of the game at the 9:30 mark of the 3rd to even the scoring at 3-3. Soon after that, Reid Lune wanted a say in the scoring process as he broke the tie while notching his 3rd goal of the season at the 9:59 mark. About 40 seconds after Lune’s goal, George Giese added the icing on top of the comeback cake to seal the contest victory for the Mustangs at 5-3 and giving the Mustangs their first road victory of the season. The assists for the Giese score were made by newcomer Heath Drye and Jackson Gram. This was Drye’s first assist in a Mustang uniform.
Game 1 Stats: https://bit.ly/36owaO5
GAME 2 (11/7/20): Picking up off from the night before, the Mustangs quickly re-gained their offensive rhythm halfway through the 1st with Ethan Chesney punching in the game’s first goal with the assists coming from Reid Lune and Heath Drye. The Mustangs made quick work of the Power, shutting down their offense’s flow and channeling the defensive momentum into points. Mustang goals in the 2nd half were scored by Quinn Murphy, Ibrahim Arifi and Connor Bennett. The only blemish on the game for the Mustangs came at the start of 3rd period with the Power’s Max Erstad getting the friendly puck bounce off of Mustang goalie Cole Walter’s pads. The Mustang surge would continue short after with milestones for three players. Christopher Kondiles, Cody Hopkins and Heath Drye would score their first Mustang goals to seal the series sweep against the Power, 7-1. Mustang goalie Cole Walter had a dominant outing, quickly erasing the memories of the 3 goals scored by the Power the previous night. Walter had 31 saves out of 32 attempts earning him the star of the game on Saturday night. The Mustangs improved their overall record to 3-1-1-1 while the Power dropped to 3-7 on the year. The Mustangs picked up 4 points in the standings and now currently sit at 3rd place in the division behind leader Rochester and 2nd place Oregon.
Game 2 Stats: https://bit.ly/38q7J5c
A LOOK AT ROCHESTER:
The Peoria Mustangs will make their first visit to Minnesota this weekend to square off against the Rochester Grizzlies. Once again, the world had done all it could to prevent the Mustangs and the Grizzlies from meeting on the ice as the last series for the two teams in Peoria was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns back on October 23rd and 24th. The Rochester Grizzlies have been nothing short of dominant to start out the 2020-21 campaign as they boast an unblemished record of 8-0. This past weekend, the Grizzlies swept the Oregon Tradesmen in a weekend series in Rochester. The majority of the Grizzlies roster has scored throughout their 8 games while boasting a great defensive record. Using their momentum from this past weekend, the Mustangs will look to put the first blemish on the Grizzlies’ season. A tall task indeed but the Mustangs have proven that they can come into enemy territory and return home with a victory or two in their pocket.
GAME INFORMATION:
Peoria Mustangs (3-1-1-1) at Rochester Grizzlies (8-0-0-0)
DATE: November 13, 2020 & November 14, 2020
TIME: 7:05 PM (Central)
LOCATION: Rochester Rec Center, Rochester, MN, USA
HOW TO WATCH: HockeyTV
TICKET INFORMATION: https://www.rochestergrizz.com/single-tickets
