Greenville Edges Out Norfolk In Overtime Thriller

NORFOLK, VA  --  The Norfolk Admirals were looking to build off their momentum from last Saturday’s victory against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Wednesday night. Michael McNiven was making his second start for the Admirals and things started out on a high note for Norfolk.

They took the lead on a two-on-one goal from Artem Ivanyuzhenkov. Sebastian Vidmar skated in fired a back-door pass to find Ivanyuzhenkov that beat Greenville goaltender Jeremy Helvig. The Admirals have now scored the game’s first goal in the last two games.

The Swamp Rabbits tied the game at one with a goal from Patrick Bajkov on the power-play. Kamerin Nault played the puck to Bajkov in the right circle who slammed it home on a one-timer past McNiven to tie the game at one.Greenville took a 2-1 lead on a goal from Mason Baptista later in the period. Nault played the puck to the point for Brien Diffley who fired a shot that was initially saved by McNiven. With the rebound laying in between the pads, Baptista poked the puck into the net and give the Swamp Rabbits a 2-1 lead.With Greenville now having all the momentum, Norfolk was looking to climb back into the game, and they did just that with two minutes left in the period. The Admirals tied the game with a goal from JC Campagna, his sixth of the season. McNiven made a point blank save which led to a rush the other way for the Admirals. Austin McEneny played the puck to Campagna, who fired a shot over the glove of Helvig to tie the game at two.In the second period, Norfolk retook their lead on a goal from Sebastian Vidmar, his third of the season. Norfolk extended their lead to two goals with a tally from Josh Holmstrom. McEneny fed Rodriguez up the left wing who found Josh Holmstrom in the left circle and wristed a shot over the glove of Helvig to extend the Norfolk lead to 4-2.Greenville cut the Norfolk lead in half with a goal from Brett Beauvais. With Greenville creeping back into the game, they would ultimately tie the game on a goal from Patrick Bajkov. Cedric Lacroix played the puck from along the wall to the point to Diffley who found Bajkov in the circle for a one-timer that deflected off the pad of McNiven and behind him to tie the game at four.

The game appeared as if it were headed to overtime, until Mike Monfredo cashed in on a Norfolk turnover by Joe Masonius and Monfredo backhanded a shot past McNiven to give the Swamp Rabbits a 5-4 lead. 

Greenville’s lead was short-lived as Alex Tonge, who was making his Admirals debut, dumped the puck into the Swamp Rabbits zone. The puck took a strange bounce off the end boards and bounced out into the slot where Tonge was able to roof the shot and tie the game at five.

The game would remain tied until 3:05 of overtime when Dylan MacPherson skated in on a breakaway and fired a shot that beat McNiven five hole to win the game for Greenville. 

The Admirals are back in action on Friday in Greenville for a rematch with the Swamp Rabbits. Puck drop is set for 7pm.

Written by Kristopher Clark