The Klamath Falls Ice Hawks played their last home games of the season against the Eugene Jr. Generals Saturday and Sunday. Before puck drop on Saturday, the Ice Hawks honored their three seniors: Cy Dugan, Gavin Knutson and Cole Brady. Here’s how each game unfolded.
Game 1: Eugene 5, Klamath Falls 2 (Saturday)
Eugene’s Marston Scher scored at 9:53 in the first period, the only tally for either side in the opening frame. Klamath Falls killed two penalties after Scher’s goal to keep it a 1-0 game heading into the second.
Gage McDaniel tied the game on a rebound 10 seconds into the second period. The Ice Hawks had a chance to take the lead on their first power play opportunity at 3:39 but couldn’t convert. Their penalty kill unit delivered again after the Jr. Generals got their third power play chance at 7:13.
Eugene struck twice in the final five minutes of the second period, first on another Scher goal at 15:16, then on a shorthanded goal by Robert Cserep at 18:32. McDaniel pulled Klamath Falls within 3-2 at 3:34 in the third period, but the Jr. Generals scored a pair of late goals to put the game out of reach. Scher completed the hat trick at 15:01 and Cserep scored 39 seconds into Eugene’s fourth power play at 16:48.
This was Marston Scher’s second straight hat trick against the Ice Hawks. He also scored three goals in the teams’ previous meeting at the Collier Cup Jan. 14.
Klamath Falls was outshot 25-16, including 9-2 in the third period. Ice Hawks goalie Tatiana Graham made 20 saves, and Jr. Generals goalie Braden Ferrill made 14 saves.
–
Scoring Summary
1st Period
9:53 EUG Marston Scher (Nicolas Haskell)
2nd Period
:10 KF Gage McDaniel (Owen Welch)
15:16 EUG Marston Scher (unassisted)
18:32 EUG (SH) Robert Cserep (Erec Nyberg)
3rd Period
3:34 KF Gage McDaniel (Owen Welch)
15:01 EUG Marston Scher (unassisted)
16:48 EUG (PP) Robert Cserep (Avery Rudler)
Game 2: Klamath Falls 2, Eugene 2 (Sunday)
In a chippy game that saw both teams combine for 43 penalty minutes, Klamath Falls scored a power play goal on their first opportunity, with Owen Welch cashing in at 8:19 in the first period to give his team a 1-0 lead. The rest of the period included a 4-on-4, a 4-on-3 power play for Eugene and a 5-on-4 power play for the Ice Hawks but all amounted to no goals.
Luke Balzotti doubled the lead for Klamath Falls 14 seconds into the second period. A skirmish during a Jr. Generals power play at 15:36 resulted in multiple coincidental penalties that gave Eugene a 4-on-3 power play followed by a 4-on-4 and a 5-on-4 Ice Hawks power play, but the score remained 2-0 heading into the third period.
Erec Nyberg got the Jr. Generals on the board at 3:26 in the third with what would be their only power play goal; Klamath Falls took another penalty at 5:28 that they successfully killed. Then, Nicolas Haskell made it 2-2 on a blast through traffic from the high slot at 10:08. Neither team was able to break through after that, so the game ended in a tie.
The Ice Hawks outshot Eugene 26-17, including 10-2 in the third period. Klamath Falls goalie Tatiana Graham made 15 saves, and Jr. Generals goalie Braden Ferrill made 24 saves.
The Ice Hawks travel for back-to-back games against the Portland Jr. Winterhawks Feb. 24-25.
–
Scoring Summary
1st Period
8:19 KF (PP) Owen Welch (Thatcher Rabbiosi, Gage McDaniel)
2nd Period
:14 KF Luke Balzotti (Thatcher Rabbiosi, Cody Barnett)
3rd Period
3:26 EUG (PP) Erec Nyberg (unassisted)
10:08 EUG Nicolas Haskell (Marston Scher)
