Rock Lobsters Shut Out Dragons 6 - 0

Crustaceans Ace the Columbus Quiz on Report Card Day

ATHENS, GA - A five-goal second period fueled the Athens Rock Lobsters’ 6-0 defeat of the Columbus River Dragons on Report Card Day Sunday afternoon.

A brilliant goaltender battle was the story of the first period, with Carter McPhail stopping 13 shots for Athens and Trevor Babin making 17 saves for the River Dragons; however, after sustaining an injury in the first period, Babin would not reemerge from the tunnel for the middle frame and Tyler Roy would fill in.

The Rock Lobsters would rain on Roy in the second period with a pair of Russians scoring 28 seconds apart. Gleb Bandurkin broke the deadlock with a put-back at 3:29, while Daniil Glukharyov gave the hosts a 2-0 lead at 3:57. 

His second five-hole goal of the weekend, Brandon Walker notched another at 11:08 for what was also his second professional goal of his career.

The wait for Malik Johnson’s first goal back with Athens would end at 12:35, passing into an open net after a perfect setup from Garrett Milan.

A five-goal frame was polished off by Jesse Lowell with milliseconds left on the power play, catching Roy out by a shot that was snapped through into the nylon.

Columbus had a chance to ruin McPhail’s night with five minutes of power play time after the game misconduct given to Kyle Pow, but the only goal in the third period belonged to Filip Virgili on the shorthand.

McPhail handed Columbus its first shutout loss of the season, last putting up the goose egg on March 29, 2025 against the no-longer-existing HC Venom. The Athens netminder now leads the FPHL in shutouts with three.

The Rock Lobsters (20-4-5-0, 70 pts), now back atop the Continental Division, return to the Florence Center to take on the Pee Dee IceCats Friday, Jan. 16 at 7:15 p.m.