Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 19, 1993 TAG: 9311190285
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Which had been the bigger bust? The Dolly Parton look-alike contest that drew zero contestants or the Roanoke Express?
After his club had blown a three-goal lead in a 5-4 loss to Knoxville, Express coach Frank Anzalone, at best, may have rated it a draw.
"That was very embarrassing," Anzalone said. "I don't know about those guys in that locker room, but I'm embarrassed. Frank Anzalone is embarrassed.
"We only had about seven guys going. The rest didn't do anything. They came to the game but they didn't dress spiritually or mentally. There's just no excuse for this happening."
There are no real good alibis in the game of hockey when you squander a 3-0 lead on home ice.
But there was one simple answer. The Cherokees (9-5) simply outworked the Express (5-8), which for the most part, took the rest of the night off after playing six minutes of hockey.
"We got up 3-0 and seemed to be in control," said Express left wing Pat Ferschweiler, one of the few Roanoke players who brought his lunch pail on this evening. "Then Knoxville just took over the game. They outworked us and they beat us. That's the story."
The Roanoke story was almost as short as the line of Dolly impersonators. It lasted 5 minutes, 41 seconds, to be exact. The rest of the book was all Knoxville.
After Tony Szabo, Ferschweiler and Jeff Jestadt scored three goals in a two-minute span of the first period to give Roanoke a 3-0 lead, the visitors took over and the Express took off. For Dollywood, perhaps?
"Their players just took over, and we couldn't respond to their challenge," Anzalone said. "They just wore us down."
Down by three, the Cherokees fought back with little opposition, getting to 3-2 after one period on goals by Yvan Corbin and Scott Hollis.
After Conrade Thomas' rebound goal 93 seconds into the second period gave Roanoke a 4-2 lead, Knoxville tied it at 4 on two long slap shots that whistled past Express goalie Dan Ryder.
The Cherokees put the lackadaisical Roanoke unit to bed for good at 9:23 of the third on Bruno Villeneuve's rebound score.
Roanoke had some chances. The Express had six power-play opportunities. Not only did it not score, it rarely mustered a shot on goal.
"We didn't do anything on the power play," Anzalone said. "The penalty-killing outworked the power play. They outworked us with four guys. We never picked our game up a notch and they did. It's disappointing, to say the least."
The Express will have to find some steam soon. Roanoke, losers of two straight at home, has South Carolina (6-3-1) coming into the civic center tonight. On Saturday, it's Nashville.
"This is a great home stand to get a lot of things accomplished," Anzalone said. "It's a negative start, but we'll just have to see what we can do."
\ ICE CHIPS: Ferschweiler had two assists to go with his fifth goal of the season. Dave "Moose" Morissette helped on two of Roanoke's first-period goals. ... The Express skated without leading goal scorer Lev Berdichevsky. Anzalone said the Russian forward is still having trouble handling a stick because of a deep contusion in his right hand, which he picked up in Roanoke's 3-2 win in Raleigh last Friday. "There's no sense in playing a player if he's not feeling well," Anzalone said. "The first slash, the first stick to the hand and it's worse." Berdichevsky has a team-high 10 goals despite missing nearly five of the club's 13 games. ... Former Express goalie Bryan Schoen has hooked on with the Toledo Storm. San Jose, the Express' NHL affiliate, agreed to move Schoen to Toledo so Roanoke could make room for new netminder Jim Mill, acquired from Birmingham on Monday for cash. ... Female goalie Manon Rheaume did not make the trip with the Cherokees. Rheaume has played in only one game this season - a 9-6 home win over Johnstown. Her immediate playing time won't be enhanced by the fact that former NHL goalie Scott Gordon has been sent to Knoxville by Atlanta of the International Hockey League, giving the Cherokees three goalies on their 18-player roster. ... The crowd of 3,029 was the smallest in five home dates for Roanoke.
by CNB