FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Fayetteville Marksmen, proud members of the SPHL, fell 4-1 to the Knoxville Ice Bears on Sunday.

Neither team found the back of the net, although Knoxville outshot Fayetteville 15-9 in the opening frame, with the Marksmen having a successful penalty kill at 12:23.

Ryan Kuzmich opened the scoring 1:12 into the second period, assisted by Jared Westcott and Frankie Ireland, to put the Ice Bears up 1-0. Ryan Kuzmich added his second of the night, capitalizing on a one-time feed from Frankie Ireland to round out the second period scoring 2-0.

Just 13 seconds into the final frame, Ryan Kuzmich completed the hat-trick on a wrap-around shot assisted by Jared Westcott and Frankie Ireland, making it 3-0. Shane Murphy jammed home the lone Marksmen tally at 0:37, set up by Sam Dabrowski and John Moncovich to make it 3-1. Mitch Atkins added an empty-netter at 17:57, assisted by Ryan Kuzmich and Kyle Soper to secure the 4-1 final.

Ryan Kenny stopped 28-of-31 shots faced in the Marksmen effort, and Logan Flodell stopped 31-of-32 in the Ice Bears win.

Next up for the Marksmen is road contest against the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs on Friday, March 27th. Puck drop from the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia is set for 7:05 p.m. EST.

Fayetteville returns to home action on Thursday, April 2nd to host the Macon Mayhem for Salute to Service presented by Soldiers First Real Estate. Puck drop from the Crown Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. EST. Tickets can be purchased here: https://marksmenhockey.com/tickets/single-game/