MONROE, LA – The Athens Rock Lobsters rallied multiple times to defeat the Monroe Moccasins 6–5 in a shootout Saturday night at the Civic Center on Valentine's Day, completing a weekend sweep and moving into first place in the Continental Division standings.
Athens improved to 24-6-0-3-3 on the season and now sits atop the division with 84 points. Monroe fell to 25-6-3-2-0 but earned a point with the overtime loss, giving the Moccasins 82, keeping them in second place. The loss marked Monroe’s first three-game losing streak of the season.
The Moccasins started fast in the opening period, taking a 1–0 lead at 11:09 when Jared Christy scored his second of the weekend. Yianni Liarakos doubled the lead on the power play at 13:35, but Athens answered with goals from Daniil Glukharev and Garrett Milan to tie the game at 2-2. Liarakos struck late in the period with eight second left to restore Monroe’s lead into the intermission 3–2.
After a scoreless second period, the back-and-forth battle intensified in the third. Devyn Mayea tied the game at 4:32 with a power-play goal before Austin Albrecht put Monroe back in front 4-3. Eric Neiley responded just over a minute later to even the score again; then Dean Balsamo gave the Moccasins a 5–4 lead at 12:56.
Athens answered once more as Milan scored his second goal of the night at 14:44, tying the game 5–5 and forcing overtime. Neither team found a winner in overtime, sending the contest to a shootout. Filip Virgili and Gleb Bandurkin converted for Athens, while Yianni Liarakos scored Monroe’s lone shootout goal, securing the 6–5 victory for the Rock Lobsters.
Monroe dropped to 15-4-1-1-0 at home this season and is now 1-4-3 against Athens, which improved to 4-0 at the Civic Center this year following the weekend sweep. The Continental Division race remains tight as both teams continue their push toward the postseason.
FPHL 
