Prowlers Season Ends in Overtime

For the third year in a row, the Port Huron Prowlers saw their season end in overtime on the road at the hands of the Carolina Thunderbirds. Tucker Firth was the hero in the 2-1 Game 3 win for Carolina.

The Prowlers took Game 1 3-2 at home on Friday and the Thunderbirds won 4-2 the next night in Winston-Salem to set up a winner-take-all final game on Sunday. Port Huron appeared to find the first goal of the game in the opening period as a shot from Liam Freeborn leaked through Cody Karpinski and was poked home from the crease. A quick whistle from the referee negated that however, as the play was blown dead with the puck loose in the blue paint.

The game stayed scoreless deep into the third period as Karpinski and Makar Sokolov dueled between the pipes. With less than nine minutes to play, Josh Koepplinger sent the 46th shot of the game on net from the blue line and it got through traffic and beat Sokolov to give the home side a 1-0 lead.

The Prowlers got a response from rookie Jeromey Rancourt as he made a power move to the net and slipped a backhander five-hole on Karpinski to knot the score and send the game beyond regulation.

Just under eight minutes into the first overtime, Firth stepped into a loose puck that changed direction and found the top of the net to eliminate Port Huron and send Carolina to the second round.

Sokolov turned in a 33-save effort and finished with a .935 save percentage in two playoff starts.

Firth had a goal and an assist while Karpinski picked up his second victory of the postseason after making 26 stops.

The Prowlers turn their attention to the off-season as they prepare for their 10th anniversary season. Information on season ticket memberships are available at phprowlers.com/season-memberships or by email amber@phprowlers.com.