As Reported in the Fayetteville Observer
Fayetteville, NC
By Thomas Pope
Assistant Sports Editor
A six-day Christmas break from practice and games was welcome by virtually all of the Fayetteville FireAntz. Mark Versteeg-Lytwyn wasn't among them.
After all, he had been on the unemployment line for two weeks after being released by Dayton of the International Hockey League. He's shown no signs of rust in four games since joining the Antz, and Saturday night, he scored his first SPHL hat trick. His empty-netter with 62 seconds to go was the crowning touch on a 7-5 victory over Knoxville, and salvaged a win that saw Fayetteville squander a three-goal lead in the final 10 minutes.
"Coach (Tommy Stewart) told me as soon as I got here he was going to play me in all situations," he said. "My linemates (Emery Olauson and Steve Cooke), they're great players. We've gelled pretty quickly, and we're winning, which is a bonus."
Fayetteville, which started the season 1-4, has since gone 12-5. Now with 28 points and solidly in second place, the Antz hit the road to face league-leading Huntsville on Monday night. The Antz's next home game is Thursday, when they face Columbus at 6 p.m.
"It was definitely a big win for us," said Versteeg-Lytwyn, who scored the game's first goal, then upped the Antz's lead to 4-2 at 5:35 of the third. "We didn't play exactly the way we wanted - we played a great first period, then got a little sluggish."
Indeed, after Sean Cryer's slapshot from just inside the blue line put the Antz up 5-2, Fayetteville dozed off. With Stewart saying that his forwards blew their defensive assignments, Donald Segal, Donald Melnyk and Kevin Swider all scored in less than three minutes to tie the game.
Then the game turned back in the Antz's favor literally on one slip. With the Ice Bears keeping the pressure on in the Fayetteville zone, Melnyk fell with the puck. Craig Geerlinks shoveled a pass out to Bobby Reed, who then dished it to Murray Free. With a defender draped all over him, Free managed a one-handed swing and the puck rocketed past Knoxville goalie Dan Earles with 3:12 showing.
"I went to the middle and just took a swipe at it," Free said. "I got a little lucky, I guess, but that's the bounces."
That turn of events forced Knoxville coach Marc Rodgers to pull Earles for an extra attacker with time running out. Versteeg-Lytwyn took advantage of the empty net, picking up the puck on a faceoff and firing it for a score from near center ice. It helped the Antz run their home record at the Crown Coliseum to 10-2-0.
"He's a veteran guy. He's played four years in the IHL and won a cup with Fort Wayne last year," Stewart said of Versteeg-Lytwyn. "He's a great hockey player with great hockey sense, and that line has just gelled. It's given us a great 1-2 punch up front."
The Antz got a pair of goals from their No. 1 line of Rob Sich, Chris Leveille and Jesse Biduke. Sich scored his league-leading 28th goal in the second after Leveille scored in the first, and Biduke earned a pair of assists. Sich is one point ahead of Leville, 40-39, for the SPHL scoring lead.
Assistant sports editor Thomas Pope can be reached at popet@fayobserver.com or 486-3520.
