River Sharks season ends in Binghamton
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WETM) – The Elmira River Sharks saw their season end after a hard fought road matchup.
The Elmira River Sharks season came to a close on Saturday. Elmira was bested by a late charge from Binghamton 4-3, in their regular season finale. The loss left the door open for Watertown to win and claim the final FPHL Empire Division Playoff spot. The Wolves avenged a Friday night loss and rolled past Wytheville 8-2, locking themselves in the playoffs by 1 point over Elmira.
On the ice, Binghamton scored the game’s first goal off of the stick of Austin Thompson. Scoring would resume in the 2nd period, with an offensive explosion from the River Sharks. Early into the 2nd frame, Dustin Jesseau tied the score on a long range backhand shot. Minutes later, Elmira’s Steven Klick found the back of the net with a quick wrister from the top of the slot. With the 2-1 edge, Klinck capped off a precision passing play from Cam Yarwood and Antoine Gignac to extend the River Sharks lead to 3-1.
In the first 9 minutes of the 3rd period, Binghamton erased Elmira’s 2 goal lead to tie. Kyle Stephan and Connor Smith scored goals nearly a minute apart, to knot the score at 3 for the Black Bears. With 53 seconds remaining in the period, Smith drove past 2 Elmira defenders and beat Sammy Bernard for the game winning goal.
With the win, Binghamton will take on Watertown in a best of 3 series in the 1st round of the FPHL Playoffs. Elmira finishes their season 5th in the FPHL Empire Division, with a 20-34-2 overall record (1 overtime win, 1 shootout win, 2 overtime losses).
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