Bartholomay’s Hattrick Drops Puck On Riverkings

 Adam Bartholomay rang in 2010 right by bagging 3 goals as the Tulsa Oilers beat the Mississippi Riverkings in a New Year’s Eve game at the amazing BOK Center.

With leading scorer Rob Hisey on assignment to the Springfield Falcons of the AHL, the Tulsa squad was in desperate need of someone to step up to fill the void.  Adam Bartholomay took that cue and it paid off nicely.  After a scoreless first and second period Bartholomay scored at 4:47 of the 3rd, assisted by Derek Merlini, and again at 12:54 unassisted.  Matt Summers of the Riverkings scored twice in the period, knotting the score at 2-2 when regulation time ended.

It only took less than a minute for Bartholomay to strike again and end the game with Troy Riddle assisting.  The Oilers came away with the victory and into a tie for 3rd place in the standings with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs.  The win makes it 3 in a row for Tulsa, having swept a southern conference road trip with wins against the Laredo Bucks and the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.  Another standout was goalie Trevor Cann, who made 44 saves in the game. 

After a night off the Oilers will take on the Riverkings again at 7:30 on Saturday night in the BOK Center.  It will be one of the last nights the outdoor Winterfest will be in operation, so there is an opportunity for fans to skate on the huge outdoor rink on 3rd street prior to the game.  Tickets for Saturday night’s contest and all of the Oilers home games are available at the BOK Center box office, online at tulsaoilers.com, and all Reasors locations.

NOTE: It was announced that the Oilers game against the Wichita Thunder, originally scheduled for Christmas night and postponed due to the winter storm has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010.  All tickets sold for the Christmas night game will be honored that night.

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Photos: Kevin Pyle

GAME LENGTH: 2:28
ATTENDANCE: 3,430
REFEREE: Steve Cruickshank
1ST STAR: Bartholomay, Adam (TUL)
2ND STAR: Merlini, Derek (TUL)
3RD STAR: Summers, Matt (MIS)