Mayhem stay hot, win ninth in a row

The Macon Mayhem stayed hot Friday night at the Macon Coliseum while showcasing the style of play that has carried them to the top of the SPHL standings.

Mark Rivera had a goal and assist in a 3-1 victory for Macon against Fayetteville (4-7-0), with the Fireantz goal by Colin McIntosh coming in the game’s final minute with an extra attacker on the ice. Jake Trask added an empty-net goal for the final margin and ninth win in a row for the Mayhem (10-1-1) which also got a score from John Siemer.

With a win Saturday, Macon would match the fourth-longest winning streak in SPHL history. The all-time record of 14 was set last year by Peoria.

Four who mattered

Rivera: He got into the scoring column for the second straight game, burying a pass from Dennis Sicard past Fayetteville goalie Sean Bonar from the doorstep of Fayetteville’s net 7:30 into the game. The right winger wasn’t finished. He perfectly placed a pass ahead in the Fireantz zone to Siemer for the second Mayhem goal. Rivera was also one of four Mayhem players with a plus-two plus-minus rating.

Siemer: He scored his eighth goal of the year and gained his SPHL-leading 17th point in the second period when he cradled a pass from near the blue line by Rivera. From there, it was all about a one-on-one matchup with Bonar, and Rivera faked the Fayetteville goalie out for the score and 2-0 Mayhem lead 5:57 into the second period.

Garrett Bartus: He was the spotlight of an overall strong defensive effort by Macon as the Mayhem goalie allowed a goal while facing 36 shots. Bartus, who entered Friday third in the SPHL with a .934 save percentage, had 35 saves.

Sean Bonar: Bartus can likely empathize with Bonar. As Bartus did last year for Macon, Bonar has gotten the start in goal in virtually every game for Fayetteville, appearing in all but one. The workload didn’t faze him much as he was solid in keeping the game close, stopping 38 of 40 shots.

Observations

Setting the table: Macon may not have scored in the first few minutes, but the tone was set during that stretch of the game that would carry through the rest of the night. The Mayhem attacked from the start, getting multiple scoring chances against Bonar. The early energy level was carried the rest the game, with the Mayhem having a firm command of the attacking zone.

Quick work: Friday’s game moved at a rather fast pace, lasting 2 hours, 12 minutes. Part of that had to do with a lack of penalties as both sides were whistled for just one penalty.

Worth mentioning

Standings update: The Mayhem lead the SPHL by three points ahead of Huntsville and four in front of Knoxville.

They said it

Mayhem forward Jake Trask on how much the winning streak is talked about: “We try not to. It’s pretty impressive what we’ve done, but if we get too focused on keeping those streaks, you forget about the simple things that got us to this point.”

Trask on setting the tone early on Friday: “We try to make teams play with us. We know we have a lot of team speed. We just want to keep pucks behind the defense, and (Saturday) we did a really nice job and it showed on the scoreboard.”

Macon head coach Kevin Kerr on if there’s much focus on the winning streak: “We just take every game as it goes and make sure we’re ready to play every game. We know we have a special team here, but know we have to work hard every night.”

What’s next?

The Mayhem host Columbus at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday.

This story was originally published November 25, 2016 at 11:25 PM with the headline "Mayhem stay hot, win ninth in a row."