Cottonmouths rally stymied by Macon’s final-minute goal

The Columbus Cottonmouths let another home game slip away on Friday night, falling 4-3 to the instate rival Macon Mayhem in front of 1,971 at the Columbus Civic Center.

Macon scored the game-winning goal with just 45 seconds left in regulation as Matt Summers found the back of the net. It broke a 3-3 tie that saw the Mayhem score three goals in the first period and Columbus slither back into the contest with three goals of their own in the middle frame.

The Mayhem got the scoring rolling in the first off the power play, the best unit in the league with a 25.5% success rate. Collin MacDonald beat Cottonmouths goaltender Brandon Jaeger on the doorstep, giving Macon a 1-0 lead.

Perennial league nemesis Dennis Sicard gave Macon a 2-0 lead when he received a perfect headman pass from Mark Rivera, springing him on a partial breakaway and surprising Jaeger with a shot to the top of the net.

MacDonald got his second point of the night later in the period, this time on an assist, as he patiently waited and caught Columbus snoozing in the middle of a line change. MacDonald fed Joel Wetmore, who skated in alone on Jaeger and snapped a shot into the back of the net for his first professional goal and a 3-0 Macon lead after one period.

“The first 10 minutes of the first period, we executed and did what we wanted to do,” said Snakes head coach Jerome Bechard. “When they scored that power play goal, it kind of got us off our game plan a little bit. We stopped skating for 10 minutes in the first period, and they got rolling.”

While none of the three goals could be directly attributed to Jaeger, Bechard pulled him in favor of newcomer Gordon Ceasar in net to attempt to create a spark. Whether it was that change or Bechard’s passionate first intermission speech that fueled the Snakes, they came out with renewed energy in the middle period, scoring three goals of their own to knot the score at 3-3 after two periods.

“It was a tale of two games,” Bechard said. “t really wasn’t Jags’ fault, but we figured we’d change it up. We couldn’t get much worse. We put (Gordon) in and he makes a couple of really nice saves. He stood tall in there.

“The fortitude the guys showed tonight ... we could have folded up the tent tonight, but we didn’t. We made a game of it.”

For Ceasar, the second period marked his first professional hockey experience after being signed earlier this week by the Cottonmouths. He had seen preseason action for the Huntsville Havoc but didn’t make the team’s regular season roster.

“The cool thing about coming in relief when you’re down is that you don’t have a lot to lose,” Ceasar said. “There were some nerves, but I wanted to get the team back into it. I had to catch my breath a few times, but I was able to make a couple of big saves and keep us in it.

“I felt good. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a game, but once I got some quick touches and was in the game right away, it was nice. I was looking forward to getting the win there, but hopefully we get a chance to come back tomorrow. I would love to get another shot against the same team.”

Derek Gingera led all Snakes with a pair of goals in the second period.

“The line of Gingera, Bathgate, and Bruce has been carrying us for the past couple of weeks,” Bechard said. “We made some changes to some other lines. I like that. Two lines scored tonight, and the other did what they needed to do.”

“We’re starting to get a little chemistry together,” Gingera said of his linemates. We had a good game, but that first period really got us.”

However, Matt Summers’ goal for the Mayhem with just 45 seconds to go in regulation proved to be the difference in the game. The Snakes pulled Ceasar for an extra attacker and managed to get some sustained pressure in the last few seconds, with the last shot sailing over a wide-open net behind a sprawled Macon goaltender Jordan Ruby.

“Again, 45 seconds left to go, we’re right where we need to be,” Bechard said. “Any luck whatsoever, we score with five seconds left with the goalie pulled.”

Columbus falls to a league-worst 1-7-0 record at home, while Macon remains spotless on the road so far this season at 8-0-0.

The Snakes get a chance for revenge on the Mayhem’s home ice Saturday with the back end of the home-and-home series in Macon on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

“I’m not happy where we are,” Bechard said. “No one in that locker room is happy where we are. At the same time, it’s coming. We played so much better offensively tonight, creating sustained pressure in their end. We hadn’t done that on a consistent basis, and we did that in the second and third period.

“We’re 5-11 and we could easily be 11-5. It’s the little things at the wrong times. It’s youth. There’s a bunch of young guys in there trying to learn how to win. I really thought we had it. We deserved at least a point tonight.”

Friday at Columbus Civic Center

This story was originally published December 17, 2016 at 2:08 PM with the headline "Cottonmouths rally stymied by Macon’s final-minute goal."