Rivermen sweep Evansville, advance to President’s Cup Final

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — The Rivermen found themselves in unfamiliar territory.

They were behind.

Eight minutes into the third period of game two of their SPHL semifinal playoff series with Evansville, the Rivermen were down 2-1. All that changed in 78 seconds.

Joseph Drapluk scored the tying goal at the side of the net at 14:25 of the third period. On the next shift, JM Piotrowski skated right wall, fough toff a defender and fired back-hander home to give the Rivermen a 3-2 lead at 14:51.

Zach Wilkie then fired a hard shot into the back of the net on a power play to make it a 4-2 Rivermen lead at 15:43. That ended the 78-second rally that put the Rivermen in control of the game.

Evansville pulled its goalie for an extra attacker and Mike Gelatt added on an empty-net goal at 17:36 to close the scoring.

The Rivermen complete the sweep of Evansville in the best-of-three semifinals and now await the winner of the Huntsville-Roanoke series for an opponent in the President’s Cup Finals. The Rivermen are guaranteed to play on the road in the first game of the series April 25 and then play the second game at home April 27 and, if necessary, the third game at home Apri 28.

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