Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 12, 1990 TAG: 9003123044
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN SMALLWOOD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It cracked Saturday when the Lancers lost at Erie in an East Coast Hockey League game that could have put them in a first-place tie with the Panthers. On Sunday night at the LancerLot, the ice finally broke.
Winston-Salem forward Dan Shea scored two goals in the final 14 minutes of the third period to carry the Thunderbirds to a 7-4 victory, eliminating the Lancers from contention for first place in the regular-season standings.
With one game remaining, Winston-Salem (37-22) has 80 points and is tied for first place with Erie (37-22). If the teams finish in a tie, the Thunderbirds will be the top seed in the playoffs because they won the season series with the Panthers 5-3.
The Lancers (35-18-6), who will finish third, conclude the regular season Wednesday with a game at the LancerLot against Greensboro in a playoff preview. The Lancers and Monarchs also will square off in the opening round of the ECHL playoffs.
"We can't get first or second," said Dave Allison, the Lancers' coach. "We're in third. We'll be ready for the playoffs. We're right where we want to be."
The momentum shifted Sunday when Shea scored a short-handed goal after a wild altercation that resulted in two Lancers and a Thunderbird receiving game misconduct penalties.
After Virginia tied the score 4-4 on a goal by Mark Vachon at 4:36, the Lancers' Doug Hobson and Winston-Salem's Dave Doucette decided to mix it up. While most of the other players exchanged only barbs, Virginia's Greg Neish and the T-Birds' Trent Kaese traded punches.
Hobson got five-minute major penalties for slashing and fighting. He also received a game misconduct. Neish and Kaese each got five minutes for fighting and a game misconduct. Doucette got five minutes for fighting and a two-minute instigating minor.
In the meantime, Winston-Salem goalie Kenton Rein was given two minutes for slashing.
When it was all sorted out, the Lancers had a player serving five minutes for a major penalty, but actually was a man up for the first two minutes of that span because the T-Birds had two men in the box serving minors.
It didn't matter. Jeff Greene fought to free a puck along the boards, and Shea picked it up and skated in alone on Lancers goalie Steve McKichan. Shea scored the short-handed goal at 6:07 to put the Thunderbirds up 5-4.
About eight minutes later, Shea stole a pass at center ice and again went solo on MiKichan to score an insurance goal.
"We really needed it," said Shea, who also had three assists. "Someone had to go up and ring the bell."
It was typical of the way things have gone for the Lancers recently.
"We worked hard and, for the most part, played well," Allison said. "We had a chance to win. We just made some crucial mistakes. It seems that now, whenever we make a mental error the other team capitalizes."
Winston-Salem 3 0 4 7
Virginia 2 1 1 4
First period-1, Winston-Salem, Devereaux (Soccio), 4:50. 2, Virginia, Neish 19 (Fuster), 6:17 (sh). 3, Virginia, Richards 22, 7:51 (sh). 4, Winston-Salem, Ferras (Shea), 11:05 (pp). 5, Winston-Salem, Vollhoffer (Shea, Kaese), 3:56. Penalties-McKichan, Va (delay of game), 5:12; Herniman, Va (slashing), 7:30; Torchetti, W-S (slashing), 12:03; Jones, Va (slashing), 12:45; Shannessy, W-S (slashing), 17:33; Herniman, Va (high-sticking), 12:45.
Second period-6, Virginia, Gutenburg 7 (Neish), 10:28. Penalties-Neish, Va (high-sticking), 5:51; Shannessy, W-S (roughing), 5:51; Menard, Va (roughing), 10:42; Irving, W-S (holding), 10:42; Herniman, Va (roughing), 17:58; Kaese, W-S (roughing), 17:58.
Third period-7, Winston-Salem, Vollhoffer (Shea), 1:24. 8, Virginia, Vachon 18 (Vitale), 4:36. 9, Winston-Salem, Shea (Greene), 6:07. 10, Winston-Salem, Shea, 14:01. 11, Winston-Salem, Soccio, 19:39. Penalties-Neish, Va (high-sticking), :35; Soccio, W-S (roughing), :35; Hobson, Va triple-major (slashing, fighting, game misconduct), 5:07; Neish, Va double-major (fighting, game misconduct), 5:07; Doucette, W-S minor, double-major (instigating, fighting, fighting), 5:07; Devereaux, W-S double-major (fighting, game misconduct), 5:07; Rein, W-S (slashing), 5:07; Waver, Va (roughing), 5:55; Vollhoffer, W-S (interference), 5:55; Herniman, Va (unsportsmanlike conduct), 11:08; Torchetti, W-S (unsportsmanlike conduct), 11:08; Ferras, W-S (checking), 14:58; Fuster, Va double-major (fighting, game misconduct), 20:00; Devereaux, W-S double-major (fighting, game misconduct), 20:00.
Shots on goal-Winston-Salem 11-1-7-19; Virginia 8-11-6-25.
Power-play opportunities-Winston-Salem 1-of-6; Virginia 0-of-3.
Goalies-Winston-Salem, Rein (25 shots, 21 saves). Virginia, MiKichan (19 shots, 12 saves).
A-NA.
by CNB