'It was messy': Rivermen lead slips away in final 3 minutes as Quad City wins opener in OT

MOLINE — The Peoria Rivermen had the only two goals of their 2024-25 SPHL season opener in hand for nearly the first 49 minutes Saturday.

Then it slipped from their grasp as the Quad City Storm took it away in the final 3:06, rallying to a 3-2 sudden-death overtime win over the defending champion Rivermen before 4,469 in Vibrant Arena at The Mark.

"It was one of those things where we played so good as the game went on," said Rivermen assistant coach Eric Levine, who was at the helm filling in for head coach Jean-Guy Trudel. "I told them after, 'We're the defending champions, everyone is going to give us their best.' "

It was a high-chance game, with scoring suppressed by Rivermen goaltender Colby Muise and Quad City counterpart Brent Moran.

Veteran center Alec Baer had a terrific debut in his role as the new Rivermen captain, scoring both goals in the second period.

More: Who will suit up for the Peoria Rivermen on opening night? See their final roster

"I wouldn't have minded getting one more in OT," Baer said. "I've always said I'm going to lead a little bit different. Being on the scoresheet is only part of it.

"There's a lot of things I have to clean up, and for the team will clean up. I think maybe the team getting up 2-0 early relaxed everyone. Maybe two relaxed.

"It's easy to get upset, but it's the first game of the year. It was messy, and we knew it was going to be messy."

How the Rivermen scored

The Rivermen were up against one of the league's top goaltenders in Moran, and finally got to him for a 1-0 lead at 13:59 of the second period.

Cayden Cahill's cross-ice pass set up Baer for a one-timer from the left circle, and he blasted it through Moran on a five-on-three power play at 13:59.

Baer struck again to give the Rivermen a 2-0 lead at 17:03 when a turnover at the Quad City blueline sent him in with Carlos Fornaris on a two-on-none break.

Fornaris skated down the right side of the slot and passed over to Baer, who buried it as he moved in from the left circle.

SPHL Box score: Quad City 3, Rivermen 2 (OT)

Where it went wrong

Quad City got on the board with a power play goal from Weiland Parrish at 8:34 of the third period.

The Rivermen led for the first 57 minutes of the game, and worked the clock down to under three minutes to play and went on a power play looking to seal it.

They were careful about it, sending out two defensemen on the unit.

But former Rivermen center and Quad City captain Tommy Tsicos burned them for a shorthanded goal anyway to tie the game at 17:50.

Quad City nailed the game-winner 16 seconds into sudden-death overtime when Leif Mattson's wrister from the left circle went across Muise and into the far side of the net.

The Rivermen out-shot Quad City 35-31, but the shots against was a high yield for a team that allowed a league-low 24.75 per game last season and what they rated as scoring chances in the single digits.

"We don't give up 30+ chances when we're playing good in our D-zone," Levine said. "We were lost in there at times. Offensively, we were terrific, had so many guys with good looks.

"Moran was terrific for them, and Muise kept us in the game, he was the reason we were still in it at 2-2. This game will give us a lot of good video to go over and teach from.

"We were relentless, and so were they. Just two good teams."

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 'It was messy': Rivermen lead slips away in final 3 minutes as Quad City wins opener in OT