Quad City Storm Weekly Recap: A Step Out of the Basement & Signs of Life

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2 days ago
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It’s been a rough start to the season for the Quad City Storm. For most of the year, they’ve been stuck at the bottom of the SPHL standings, struggling to find rhythm, scoring, and consistency. But this week—the first real signs of a turnaround began to show. While it wasn’t perfect, the Storm finally started digging themselves out of last place and put together one of their strongest efforts of the season.

Let’s break down the week.

Wednesday vs. Peoria Rivermen – Missed Chances Come Back to Bite

The Storm opened the week at home against the Peoria Rivermen, and for the first half of the night, it looked like QC might finally grab some momentum.

Just 3:19 into the first period, Tommy Tsicos buried his second goal of the year, assisted by Nick McHugh, who picked up his first assist of the season. Peoria found themselves in early penalty trouble with two minors in the opening 10 minutes, but despite the opportunities, the Storm couldn’t capitalize.

That came back to haunt them.

After a cross-checking penalty on Brandon Stojcevski, the Rivermen needed just 40 seconds of power-play time before Alec Baer tied the game 1–1.

The second period started strong for QC. A slashing penalty on Peoria set up a power play, and this time the Storm took advantage—Brandon Stojcevski scored his first of the year, assisted by Leif Mattson and Nick Pennucci, putting QC ahead 2–1. The period ended with no more scoring, but lots more penalties—five total between the teams—as tensions kept rising.

The third period was quiet at first… until it wasn’t.

After a Storm roughing penalty on Noah Massie, Peoria struck just nine seconds into the power play to tie the game 2–2. Under 90 seconds later, Michael McChesney scored unassisted, flipping the game upside down and giving Peoria a 3–2 lead they’d never relinquish.

Despite outshooting Peoria 37–21, and despite six power-play chances, the Storm walked away with another frustrating loss—going 1/6 on the man advantage.

Friday @ Huntsville Havoc – Tough Night Against the League’s Best

The Storm hit the road Friday to take on the first-place Huntsville Havoc, and early on, the difference between the two teams showed.

Huntsville struck first just 2:22 into the game when Matt Allen scored his fifth of the season. Ten minutes later, Noah Massie continued his strong week by tying it up 1–1 with assists from Leif Mattson and Brodie Girod.

Unfortunately, the Havoc responded fast—scoring twice in just over three minutes, with goals from Nathan Berke and David Novotny, giving Huntsville a 3–1 lead heading into intermission.

Things didn’t get better early in the second. A tripping penalty on Jacob Boll gave the Havoc a power play, and Giovanni Procopio made it 4–1.

Devin Sanders cut the lead to 4–2 later in the frame, assisted by Dmitri Toporowski and Stojcevski, but the momentum didn’t last. QC only got their first power play late in the period, and once again, they couldn’t convert.

The final blow came on an empty-net goal from Connor Fries, sealing a 5–2 Huntsville win.

Goalie Zane Steeves struggled, allowing four goals on 17 shots before being pulled. Luke Lush took over at 3:13 of the second period and was perfect—stopping all 18 shots he faced. Huntsville outshot QC 36–28 as the Storm fell to the league’s best.

Saturday @ Macon Mayhem – Storm Finally Break Through

The weekend wrapped up with a crucial showdown: the Storm vs. the Macon Mayhem—the battle for last place in the SPHL.

This time, the Storm showed up with urgency.

Noah Massie, who was arguably QC’s best player all week, opened the scoring 8:37 into the first period with assists from Leif Mattson and Nick McHugh. Things got heated late in the period when Devin Sanders delivered a kneeing hit that Macon took exception to, leading to a spirited fight between Sanders and Domenic Della Civita. Both earned majors, with Sanders already in the box for the kneeing call.

The second period saw QC squander yet another power play—officially falling to 1/8 on the week—and just past the halfway point, Macon’s Conor Witherspoon tied the game 1–1.

The game tightened up from there with no scoring late in the second or early in the third. But at 8:38 of the final frame, Massie struck again—his second of the night—assisted by Tommy Tsicos, giving QC a 2–1 lead.

Macon pulled the goalie with under two minutes left, but Jacob Boll ended things with an unassisted empty-net goal, sealing a 3–1 Storm victory and officially lifting QC out of last place.

Luke Lush was outstanding in net, stopping 26 of 27 shots, and the Storm narrowly outshot Macon 30–27.

This was the first meeting between QC and Macon this season, and over the last five years, the two teams have played each other evenly—splitting the last 10 matchups 5–5.