
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, November 13, 1993                   TAG: 9311130175
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Staff report
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

EXPRESS STUNS DIVISION LEADERS ON ROAD

Goalie Dan Ryder turned aside 30 of 32 shots, including a point-blank drive at the final buzzer, to lead the Roanoke Express to a 3-2 victory over the Raleigh IceCaps on Friday night in the East Coast Hockey League.

The victory snapped Roanoke's season-high four-game losing streak. The Express (5-7) had lost five successive road games before Friday. East Division-leading Raleigh (8-2-2) suffered its first loss in four games this season at Dorton Arena.

After Lyle Wildgoose scored his ninth goal of the season, on a slap shot from the center point, to cut the Express lead to 3-2 with less than three minutes left, the IceCaps turned up the heat.

Ryder, shelled for nine goals in Roanoke's 11-6 loss in Richmond on Wednesday, turned aside at least four quality scoring chances in the final minute of the game. As time expired, the San Jose Sharks' farmhand stopped Kevin Riehl on the doorstep. Riehl was unable to lift a Jim Powers' pass over the fallen Express goalie while positioned all alone at the right post.

Dave "Moose" Morissette, returning to action after a one-game suspension, opened the scoring 2 minutes, 19 seconds into the game, blasting a 50-foot slap shot past stunned Raleigh goalie Chad Erickson.

Jeff Jestadt padded the Roanoke lead to 2-0 in the final minute of the first period, deflecting Will Averill's wrist shot over Erickson for Roanoke's ECHL-leading 21st power play goal of the season.

Tony Szabo's third goal of the season - a backhand shot with two Raleigh defenders draped over him - made it 3-0 Roanoke at 2:50 of the second period.

Raleigh's Derek Linnell broke up Ryder's shutout bid at 10:36 of the second, stealing a Dan Dorion clearing attempt and quickly sliding a low wrist shot past Ryder from the slot.

The Express killed a five-on-three Raleigh power play for 40 seconds early in the third period and finished the evening by stuffing the IceCaps on all five of their power-play attempts.

\ ICE CHIPS: Lev Berdichevsky, Roanoke's leading goal-scorer, was injured and carried off the ice. The Russian forward, complaining of breathing problems and that he couldn't move his right thumb, was taken to a Raleigh hospital after the game for X-rays. Berdichevsky was hurt when he was spun headfirst into the end boards by Linnell. . . . Roanoke defenseman Claude Barthe had two assists, his first points in 11 games this season. . . . The Express has the rest of the weekend off before opening a three-game home stand Thursday against Knoxville at the Roanoke Civic Center.

by CNB