Marksmen complete second-straight comeback over Havoc, win 5-4 in overtime

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Fayetteville Marksmen scored four goals in the third period and Grant Loven finished off a multi-goal comeback to cement a 5-4 overtime win over the Huntsville Havoc at the Crown Coliseum Sunday. 

Huntsville took a 2-0 lead into the third period, off of goals in each of the first two frames, but the Marksmen began to power back at 3:57. Kyle Soper (10) pushed the puck up the wall in defensive ice to Grant Loven (8) who continued the play to Anthony Yurkins (3) up ice to cut Huntsville’s lead in half. Moments later, Max Johnson (7) finished off a strong play that started from behind the net when he potted in Yurkins’ (3) rebound 47 seconds later. Cam Cook (11) won a puck battle along the back wall to set up the sequence. The 2-2 tie would hold for under four minutes before Fayetteville jumped ahead. Simon Boyko (8) made sure a Brendon Michaelian (7) blast from the blueline found the twine for the go-ahead goal on the PWC powerplay. Yurkins (4) earned a secondary assist on the play. With just 72 seconds on the clock, Huntsville tied the game at 3s to promise an exciting finish. The home squad retook its lead for a second time in the period, going ahead 4-3 when Boyko (9) scored again, from Johnson (5) and Matt Araujo (6). Just as Fayetteville looked to celebrate, Huntsville snuck in a buzzer-beater of a shot to tie the game 4-4 with less than a second on the clock, forcing overtime. 

In the extra frame, Loven (6) sniped the game-winning goal from Araujo (7) off the rush at 2:03. For the second straight night, and the third time in four head-to-head matchups this season, the Marksmen mounted a comeback win over the Havoc. 

With the win, the Marksmen retook sole possession of first place in the SPHL standings, gaining two points over the Pensacola IceFlyers (2nd). 

Fayetteville returns to action Friday, December 8 for Video Game Night at the Crown Coliseum against the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs. 

Tickets to Video Game Night and all 2023-24 Marksmen home games are available on marksmenhockey.com.