MOLINE, ILLINOIS (November 8, 2021) — On Friday, November 5, the Quad City Storm won its franchise-record fifth game in a row by a score of 2-1. The victory came on the road against the Peoria Rivermen and was also the Storm’s first ever regular season win in Peoria.
Storm forward Marcus Ortiz opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the season in the first period. Another newcomer to this year’s roster, Matt Stoia, buried the eventual game-winner at 16:26 of the second period. The goal was the first in a Storm uniform for Stoia. Peoria scored late in period three to cut the deficit to one, but was unable to beat Quad City net-minder Bailey Brkin the rest of the way. The win was Brkin’s fourth of the season, and the rookie net-minder now ranks top three in the SPHL in both save percentage (.955) and goals against average (1.26).
Saturday night in Danville, Illinois the Storm extended its record win streak to six games with an 8-1 drubbing of the Vermillion County Bobcats. Connor Fries recorded a hat trick and joined teammate Shane Bennett as the second Storm player to achieve the milestone just eight games into the season. Veteran netminder Peter Di Salvo stopped eighteen of nineteen shots in the winning effort, and forward Tommy Stang scored his first professional goal. Marcus Ortiz recorded his fifth goal of the season and has now notched points in four straight games. Defenseman Joe Sova scored twice and the scoring was rounded out by Tommy Tsicos, who returned to the roster last week after a stint with ECHL Iowa.
The Storm is positioned in second place in the SPHL and returns to the TaxSlayer Center this weekend. Friday night is Autism Awareness night when the Storm takes on the Peoria Rivermen. Audio and visual effects in-game will be adjusted to a comfortable level for all fans in attendance. The Autism Society of the Quad Cities will be hosting an area in the arena for individuals and families of children with autism. After the game, there will be a special post-game concert featuring Electric Shock, the Midwest’s premiere AC/DC cover band. Entry to the concert is free with purchase of a ticket to the game.
This Saturday, November 13, is Salute to Military Night presented by TBK Bank. Chicago Pro Sports National Anthem singer Jim Cornelison will get things started with his incredible rendition of the national anthem. New armed-forces enlistees will be sworn in at intermission and the Storm will be wearing special salute to military night-jerseys that will be auctioned live post-game to raise money for the Quad Cities Veteran Outreach Center.
Fans can get tickets for both games at www.QuadCityStorm.com or the TaxSlayer Center box office.
