[truebluefan]

Havoc rallies in third for win

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The Huntsville Havoc scored four goals in the third period rallying from a 5-3 deficit to defeat the Pee Dee Cyclones 7-5 Thursday night in front of 4,244 fans.

The Cyclones scored three goals by Edan Welch, Drew Mareiros and Geoff Rollins in the span of :36 seconds in the first period to take a 3-0 lead. Martin Kubaliak responded two minutes later to cut the lead to 3-1.

Chris Crombie pushed the lead back to three with a goal just 3:16 into the second period. The Havoc would slice the lead to 4-3 on the first career goal for Justin Schmit with 9:51 left and a goal by Dan Buccella with 5:57 left.

Pee Dee again pushed the lead to two goals when Welch scored on the powerplay with :44 left in the second.

Tim Hockley cut the lead to 5-4 when he scored his first career goal with 16:36 left. Tristan Senior then scored back-to-back goals with 11:21 and 2:07 left. Kelly Miller scored an empty net with :20 left.

Matt Carmichael struggled to start the game but made several key saves down the stretch to seal the win.

The Havoc will travel to Knoxville tomorrow night to battle the Ice Bears.

 

[truebluefan]

Seals Get 'Clubbed' by Cyclones in Overtime, 4-5

The Pee Dee Cyclones returned to home ice on Friday night seeking revenge for the loss the Florida Seals served them last week. The Cyclones were granted their wish.

The Cyclones dominated the first period of play. Pee Dee's two goals in the period belonged to Geoff Rollins who converted on power plays both times. At the end of the first, Pee Dee was up 2-0.

Florida managed to put in two goals in the second, coming from Scott Corbett and Justin Keller. Cyclones' Allan Sirois put in a shorthanded goal, putting the score at the end of the second stanza, Florida 2, Cyclones 3.

Sirois added another goal on the night at the 6:25 mark of the third, but was soon answered from the Seals by a goal from Robert Sich, putting the score at 3-4. At the 7:29 mark, the Seals tied the score at 4, forcing the teams into overtime.

Geoff Rollins scored the final goal of the night at the 4:16 mark of overtime, giving him his first hat trick of the year.

Cyclones with goals on the night: Rollins (3), Sirois (2).

Cyclones with assists: Madeiros, Petz (2), Mnatsakanov (2), Welch, Rollins (2), Reszka, Sirois.

The Cyclones will be back in action tomorrow night as they face the Florida Seals again. Game time is set for 7:10PM. It's "March of Dimes Night" so come out and support your Cyclones and a great charity!

 

[truebluefan]

Road Woes Continue For Seals

FLORENCE, S.C. - With the bulk of the second half of their SPHL schedule away from the Silver Spurs Arena, the Florida Seals were looking to find that road warrior mentality.

For two periods Friday night, they thought they had it. Unfortunately, in the end, they didn't quite have enough.

Despite coming back three times after being down by two goals on three occasions, the Seals couldn't overcome a hat trick by Geoff Rollins as the host Pee Dee Cyclones downed Florida 5-4 in overtime at the Florence Civic Center.

With goalie Terry Denike starting in net for the first time in eleven games, Florida hoped to repeat their effort from the 9-4 victory they posted over the Cyclones a week ago. The Seals had the advantage in shots early but it was Pee Dee who scored first. Rollins did the honors, coming out of the penalty box and beating Denike for a power play goal and the lead.

The Cyclones began to assert themselves and took over play, out shooting Florida 12-2 over the second half of the first period. They were able to double the margin late in the stanza when Rollins notched his second man advantage goal of the night to give Pee Dee a 2-0 lead after one.

Florida came out aggressively in the second, piling up shot after shot on Cyclones goalie Gut St. Vincent. They finally broke through at the 7:46 mark when Billy Rochefort and Kahlil Thomas combined to set up Scott Corbett to cut the lead to 2-1. Pee Dee went back up by two when Allan Sirois netted a shorthanded goal midway through the period. The Seals didn't give in and got that goal back just over a minute later when Dan Pszenyczny set up Justin Keller for a power play goal. Florida dominated the period, holding a 25-10 shot advantage, but still trailed 3-2 going to the third.

Pee Dee thought they had given themselves some breathing room 6:25 into the final period when Sirois picked up his second goal of the night with a power play tally to boost the margin to 4-2. The Seals answered quickly as Craig Miller and Keller combined to get the puck to Rob Sich who beat St. Vincent with a man advantage goal 13 seconds after Sirois' score. Less than a minute later, Chad Haacke completed the comeback with an unassisted goal.

The teams battled through the rest of the third and into overtime. It was the first time Florida had gone to extra time and they tallied the first five shots of the five minute three-on-three session. Midway through, the Seals were hit with a penalty, causing a man advantage for the Cyclones. They capitalized on the 4-on-3 opportunity as Rollins completed his hat trick with just 44 seconds left on the clock.

For the game, Denike stopped 36 of the 41 shots he faced while his counterpart St. Vincent made 52 saves on 56 shots to post the win.

The two teams will finish the 2006 portion of their schedules with a rematch at the Florence Civic Center Saturday night. Game time is set for 7:10 p.m.

 

[truebluefan]

Seals Slide by Cyclones, 6-4

After a solid win last night in overtime, the Cyclones came into Saturday night's game against the Seals, hoping to add one more win to the weekend. Despite star performances from Edan Welch and Geoff Rollins, Pee Dee was unable to hold on to a win. Florida struck first with a goal coming at the 5:05 mark. Edan Welch soon followed for the Cyclones with nearly back-to-back goals, putting the Cyclones up by one. The Seals managed to tie the score at 2 going into the first intermission. Florida dominated the second period, scoring three goals. Geoff Rollins finally answered for Pee Dee with a goal coming at the 18:18 mark, putting the score at 5-3. Rollins lit the lamp once again at the 12:37 mark of the third, closing the gap to 5-4. However, this would be the Cyclones last goal on the night. Florida added one more to their total, an empty net shot from Craig Miller to make the final score; Florida 6, Cyclones 4. The Cyclones will be on the road for a couple of weeks, but will return to home ice on January 12 to host the Knoxville Ice Bears.

 

[truebluefan]

Sich and Miller Pair Up To Trump Cyclones

FLORENCE, S.C. - If Saturday night‘s SPHL game between the Florida Seals and the Pee Dee Cyclones had been played on a poker table, each side would have been holding two pairs

Thankfully for the guys from Central Florida, they were holding the better kicker.

Florida got two goals each from Rob Sich and Craig Miller and rode a three goal second period blitz to a 6-4 win over the host Cyclones at the Florence Civic Center. The Seals‘ victory overshadowed the twin two goal performances of Edan Welch and Geoff Rollins for Pee Dee.

Unlike the night before, the visiting Seals struck first in the opening period. Steve Zoryk set up line mate Tim Vitek who put the puck past Pee Dee goalie Guy St. Vincent for the lead at 5:05. That lead lasted just two minutes as Welch scored off of a setup by Chris Rebernik and Allan Sirois to tie it. Welch then struck again, lighting the red light behind Florida goalie Terry Denike at 9:52 to give the home team what would be their only lead of the night at 2-1. Before the stanza was done, Zoryk and Vitek would combine to set up Sich for his first of the game, sending the teams into the first intermission tied at 2-2.

The Seals came out flying in the second and before the period was nine minutes done were back in front. It started at 3:48 when Zoryk fed Sich for his second goal of the game to make it 3-2. Miller got into the act at 7:58, scoring off of a pass from Kahlil Thomas and the lead was pushed to 4-2. Rookie Chad Haacke capped the run at 8:53 when he beat St. Vincent off of assists by Phil Gianfrancesco and Billy Rochefort, giving the visitors a 5-2 lead.

Down the other end of the ice, Florida's defense and Denike's play in net took the wind out of the Cyclones until the final two minutes when Rollins continued his hot scoring, notching his fourth goal in two games to make it a 5-3 contest going to the third.

Through the first two periods, the Seals' penalty killing, which had been lit up on Friday, was perfect. They had killed off all seven chances that Pee Dee had gotten with the man advantage. That streak came to an end at 12:37 of the final period when Sirois and Welch set up Rollins for his second of the night, closing the Florida lead to 5-4.

The Cyclones continued to press for the equalizing goal but Denike on this night was solid, fending off several shots down the stretch. Miller iced the victory with his second of the game into an empty net with 36 seconds remaining. On the night, Denike stopped 25 shots to record his third win while St. Vincent repelled 26 shots in suffering the loss.

Florida now has a few days off to celebrate the New Year. They next take to the ice on Friday, January 5th when the Fayetteville FireAntz invade the Silver Spurs Arena. Opening face-off is set for 7:35 p.m.

 

[truebluefan]

Aces prevail in Victoria, 5-4

VICTORIA, BC - Kimbi Daniels assisted on four of Alaska's five goals as the Aces rebounded from their first loss in Canada the night before with a 5-4 win in Victoria in front of 4,440 Saturday night at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

Having lost Friday despite a 37-18 advantage in shots on goal, Alaska attacked with a vengeance to begin Saturday's game, and was rewarded when Matt Shasby flicked a cross-ice pass from Daniels over Victoria goalie Bryan Bridges' right shoulder just 50 seconds into the contest. For Shasby, the goal marked his first point of any kind in four weeks and triggered a three-point evening.

The Salmon Kings responded, as Matt Kelly took a pass from Milan Gajic and scored much the same way Shasby had to forge a 1-1 tie at 2:14. The Aces regained the lead at 16:04 when Julian Talbot pounced on a rebound of a Shasby drive the point and flipped in a backhander for his 10th goal of the year and the first of three power play goals for Alaska (18-9-1).

Victoria turned its 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead in exactly five seconds early in the second period, as Kiel McLeod's 12th goal of the year (six of which have come against the Aces) at 6:05 was followed by a Milan Gajic wrist shot on a breakaway that slipped past Alaska starter Derek Gustafson, who finished with 31 saves. Olivier Filion scored for the third consecutive game to knot the contest 3-3 at 12:57 on another Aces power play, and Matt Robinson gave Alaska the lead for good in the final minute of the second period, scoring off the rush, courtesy of yet another cross-ice feed from Daniels.

Kevin Croxton scored his 11th of the year on the power play to push the margin to 5-3 in favor of the Aces at 4:16 of the final period. Alaska killed off all three power plays for the Salmon Kings over the final 20 minutes, but Victoria managed one more threat, when Ryan Wade took advantage of a defensive zone turnover and scored on a wrap-around with 7:47 remaining.

Alaska will practice tomorrow before meeting Victoria (10-18-1) to ring in the New Year in the series finale on Monday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. AST. Live coverage on KFQD 750 AM begins at 11:45 a.m. The Aces (now 12-1-2 on Canadian soil) open a six-game homestand Wednesday, January 3, at 7:15 p.m. against Utah, a 4-3 winner over Las Vegas Saturday. Alaska has beaten the Grizzlies seven straight times at Sullivan Arena. Tickets for next week's games are now available at alaskaaces.com: Home or by calling 258-ACES.