Shawn Bates scores hat trick in Cottonmouths' win over IceBears

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Shawn Bates scored a hat trick to lead Columbus to a 6-2 victory over Knoxville on Saturday.

The win comes a day after Knoxville ended the Cottonmouths' 10-game win streak in Columbus on Friday.

Bates scored Columbus' first two goals. The first was unassisted at 5:05 of the second period.

His second goal at 10:45 started a flurry where the team combined for five goals in 6:23. Kyle Thomas and Mike Switzer assisted on the second goal.

After Francis Drolet scored at 11:58 for Knoxville, Swizter scored for the Snakes at 13:23. The assists went to Tyler MacPherson and Patrick McCadden.

Eric Satime scored at 14:14 for the IceBears.

Matt Gingera capped the flurry for the Snakes at 17:08 for a 4-2 lead. Bryce Williamson and Andy Williger had the assists.

Bates completed his hat trick with another unassisted goal, this one at 7:51 of the final period.

Williamson scored the final goal at 19:37 with an assist by Craig Simchuk.

The Snakes return to the ice with a pair of games at Peoria on Dec. 26 and 27.

This story was originally published December 20, 2014 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Shawn Bates scores hat trick in Cottonmouths' win over IceBears."