KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Fayetteville Marksmen erased a three-goal deficit to force overtime and earn a point against the Knoxville Ice Bears at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum Friday.

Knoxville started the game off strong, capitalizing on a 2-on-1 breakdown just one minute and 50 seconds into the period to take a 1-0 lead, and that wouldn’t be all from the home team through 20 minutes of play. The Ice Bears converted on a Marksmen turnover past the halfway point in the frame, and added a deflect later on to jump up 3-0 at 17:17, but Fayetteville found an answer while on the powerplay in the final seconds. Alex Wilkins (5) set up John Moncovich (4) for point shot, and Austen Long (4) tipped it in to get the Marksmen on the board with 30 seconds remaining.

Fayetteville carried its momentum through the intermission, and got the only goal of the middle period early. Moncovich (5) tipped in the 3-2 marker off a Hudson Lambert (4) shot after Grant Loven (9) created a wild rebound from an outside shot just 97 seconds in. The Marksmen took a 19-16 shot advantage into the final frame, hoping to continue climbing toward a complete comeback.

Moncovich (6) tied the game from Loven (10) just over four minutes into the third period, and Fayetteville would hold on to force overtime, but dropped the extra point while killing a too many men on the ice penalty in the extra frame. With the overtime point, the team held sole possession of its first-place standing through Friday’s games and continued its pace for one of the hottest starts since the 2017-18 season.

The Marksmen head to Georgia for a matchup against the Macon Mayhem Saturday at 6 p.m., before returning to the Crown Coliseum for a 7 p.m. puck drop on Blackout Wednesday, November 27. Single-game tickets to Blackout Wednesday and all 2024-25 Marksmen home games are available at marksmenhockey.com through the ‘tickets’ tab.