Kobryn stops 37, Marksmen beat Rivermen 5-2

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Fayetteville Marksmen got help from new lineup additions and Troy Kobryn made 37 saves for his first SPHL win to take down the Peoria Rivermen 5-2 at the Crown Coliseum Friday. 

New additions to the Marksmen lineup factored in almost immediately and set up the 1-0 goal at 5:26 of the first period. Justin Daly (2) powered the puck to the bottom of the o-zone, before sending it back to Nick Parody (5), who fired in a shot for Frankie Trazzera’s (1) tip-in. Before the end of the frame, Connor Fries dropped the gloves and gave the crowd even more to cheer about- Kobryn stopped all 15 shots he faced. 

Fayetteville extended its lead to 2-0 past the halfway point of the period. Daly (4) won a puck battle in his own zone and set up a give-and-go with Anthony Yurkins (8) that resulted in Daly’s first goal as a Marksmen. Peoria later found the back of the forced a 2-1 game heading into the third period. 

The two teams traded too many men on the ice penalties near the halfway point of the third, and Fayetteville extended its lead while 4-on-4. Fries (8) took advantage of a broken play off the netminder and sent the puck into the top shelf at nine minutes. Nearly five minutes later, the Rivermen made it 3-2. The Marksmen locked down defensively and scored twice off a 5-on-3 opportunity late. Justin Michaelian (2) finished on a passing play from Tyler Barrow (13) and Daly (3), before Grant Loven (17) set up John Moncovich (7) to ice the game 5-2.

With the win, the Marksmen tied the Rivermen in points, and jumped them for second place in the SPHL standings based on points percentage.

The two teams rematch on Saturday for Monochrome Night. Single-game tickets can be found at marksmenhockey.com.