HUNTERSVILLE, NC (April 3, 2019) — Today, the Southern Professional Hockey League named Beau Walker of the Peoria Rivermen the Warrior Player of the Week for March 25 to March 31.
Over the weekend, Walker and the Rivermen took on the Evansville Thunderbolts for a two-game series. During the series, Walker scored back-to-back hat tricks to rack up a total of six goals and a +5 plus/minus rating.
On Friday, the Rivermen and the Thunderbolts faced off in their first game of the weekend. The game was a back and forth battle between the teams. By the end of the first period, Peoria was trailing by two goals. Walker scored in the second period in attempts to reduce the deficit but the Thunderbolts responded again with a goal to make the score 4-2. In the third period, Walker tied up the score with two goals and received his first hat trick of the weekend. Despite Walker’s big night, Peoria fell to Evansville in a 5-4 shootout loss.
The following night, Peoria took the lead in the first period and held it for the duration of the game. Walker scored twice in the second period to give the Rivermen a three-goal advantage against the Thunderbolts. About halfway through the third period, Walker scored a power play goal which completed his second hat trick of the weekend. Walker and the Rivermen defeated Evansville 5-1 on Saturday night.
Before joining the Peoria Rivermen, Walker started the season with the Thunderbolts and played nine games with the team. He then went to play for the Carolina Thunderbirds in the Federal Hockey League for a brief time and then signed with Peoria in late December. Walker currently has a total of 13 goals and 16 assists this season.
Runner up: Caleb Cameron of Macon, (2g, 2a, +5 plus/minus)
Also nominated: Geoff Crisfield of Birmingham, Max Cook of Fayetteville, Christian Powers of Huntsville, Jacob Caffrey of Roanoke, Eddie Matsushima of Pensacola, Scott Cuthrell of Knoxville and Shane Bennett of Quad City.
Photo credit📸: Dennis Sievers/Peoria Rivermen