Fetterly, Nousiainen Lead Prowlers to First Win

Austin Fetterly scored twice in the shootout to lift the Port Huron Prowlers past the Carolina Thunderbirds 3-2 on Oct. 19 at McMorran Place. Valtteri Nousiainen stopped all four Thunderbird shootout attempts in his first FPHL start.

“That’s exactly what we expected [from Nousiainen], he had a strong camp,” said Prowlers assistant coach Chris Paulin. “We have goaltenders here who are capable of stopping every puck and he was pretty close tonight to doing that. In this league, if your goalie outplays the other goalie, you’ll have a hard time losing and he certainly did that tonight.”

Port Huron had to play from behind early as Petr Panacek got a steal in the offensive zone, walked down the slot and fired a shot that Nousiainen got most of, but not all. It trickled over the line and made it 1-0.

Just past the midway point of the second period, Isiah Parris finally found the first Prowlers’ goal of the season when he jammed home a netmouth scramble. It was his first professional goal.

“Once you get the first one, it starts to roll,” Fetterly said. “Good for Isiah to get his first too, happy for him.”

A few minutes later, Port Huron got a man advantage opportunity, but 13 seconds into it, John Buttitta danced his way into offensive territory and beat Nousiainen over the glove to give Carolina back the lead.

The Prowlers got another power play in the period’s final minute and they capitalized off another netmouth scramble. Alex Johnson got the last touch as he forced the puck over the line. That made it 2-2, a score that lasted through the third period and overtime.

In the bottom of the second round of the scoreless shootout, Fetterly beat Mario Cavaliere with a quick, low shot. After Nousiainen stopped Jiri Pestuka and Roman Kraemer in round three and four respectively, Fetterly moved in from the right side again and this time, made backhand-to-forehand more and roofed the puck to win the game for Port Huron. As per new FPHL rules, a player is allowed to shoot multiple times after the third round.

Fetterly had an assist in regulation, Parris added a helper to his goal and Matt Graham dished out a pair of apples for the Prowlers. Nousiainen finished with 45 saves between regulation and overtime.

Cavaliere took the loss after a 31-save performance.

The Prowlers hit the road for the first time next weekend as they visit the Hudson Valley Venom on Friday, Oct. 25 and the Binghamton Black Bears on Saturday, Oct. 26. Both games will be streamed live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

Photo courtesy of Delta Imaging