TOLEDO, Ohio - Matheson Iacopelli netted the decisive goal in the fourth round of a shootout to help the Kalamazoo Wings capture a 3-2 victory over the Toledo Walleye at Fifth Third Field on Sunday evening.
Over 11,000 spectators (11,231, to be exact) attended the game, which was played outdoors at the home of the Toledo Mud Hens as part of the Toledo Walleye Winterfest presented by ProMedica.
The attendance figure set a record for most people to witness a hockey game in the city of Toledo's history.
Kalamazoo (13-10-0-0) opened up the scoring 1:46 in, when Kyle Blaney potted his third goal of the season. Exactly eight minutes later, Toledo (16-6-0-2) evened it up when Brady Tomlak recorded his fifth goal on the campaign.
With just over seven minutes remaining in the opening frame, Erik Bradford helped Kalamazoo reclaim the lead with his seventh goal of the year.
The Wings took a lead into the start of the second period, but the Walleye drew even when John Albert scored on the powerplay.
The score would remain tied all the way through the end of regulation and through seven minutes of an overtime period, despite numerous saves from goaltenders Jet Greaves (Kalamazoo; 43 saves) and Billy Christopoulos (Toledo; 34 saves).
The Walleye opened the shootout with an unsuccessful attempt from Gordi Myer before Justin Taylor's conversion gave the Wings an early advantage. That advantage was quickly negated in the second round by Toledo's Brandon Hawkins, who scored before to Kalamazoo's Max Humitz was denied by Christopoulos.
In the third round, both Toledo's Marcus Vela and Bradford converted. The fourth round saw Josh Dickinson fail to score on Greaves before Iacopelli ultimately ended the game with his successful attempt.
Both teams will be back in action on Friday evening. The Wings will return home to host the Tulsa Oilers at the Wings Event Center, while the Walleye will welcome in the Indy Fuel for the final game of Winterfest at Fifth Third Field.
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