Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 15, 1993 TAG: 9312150221
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Tuesday, the Toledo Storm coach got a first-hand view of the expansion Roanoke Express at the Roanoke Civic Center. Now he believes what he heard.
"People had told me about what's going on here," McSorley said. "Know what? They were right."
The Express made believers out of McSorley and his defending ECHL champion team Tuesday, rallying from a two-goal deficit to a 5-4 win in front of 2,708 spectators.
"They're a trademark Frank Anzalone [coached] team," McSorley said. "They work hard and they're tenacious."
The victory was Roanoke's fourth straight - a franchise record - and lifted it back to .500 at 11-11-0.
Center Pat Ferschweiler supplied the winning goal with 10 minutes, 47 seconds left, deflecting defenseman Will Averill's 40-foot drive past Toledo goalie Nick Vitucci.
Ferschweiler's goal capped a rally that saw Roanoke storm back from a 4-2 deficit in the final 23:30.
"What a huge win," said Averill, who led Roanoke with a goal - his first in 18 games - and three assists. "To get back to .500 and beat a team like Toledo has to give this club a lot of confidence. We can beat anybody when we play well."
Roanoke, which closed to one point behind fifth-place South Carolina in the ECHL East, dictated the tempo most of the night, outshooting the Storm 42-27.
"We did the job," Anzalone said. "Vitucci was unbeatable for the first half of the game, but we kept plugging away and finally got to him.
"We've got a nice little streak going now. Now we have to sustain it."
Despite the fact that Roanoke dominated the first period, the two clubs skated off tied at 1.
Roanoke stayed in the Toledo end for most of the period, outshooting the visitors 19-8. Vitucci single-handedly kept the Storm from being blown away, fending off a barrage of quality shots.
Toledo's goal came at the 1:59 mark, when Alex Hicks picked off an errant Express clearing pass and fed Rick Judson, who drove a 15-foot shot between the legs of Roanoke goalie Dan Ryder.
Tony Szabo, who had been stopped three times in front of the net by Vitucci in the first 5 minutes, got Roanoke even on a power play at 13:45, ripping an ankle-high 45-foot slap shot between the Toledo goalie's stick and the left post.
While Vitucci continued to impersonate a brick wall, Toledo broke on top 3-1 in the first 11:50 of the second period on Dennis Snedden's rebound goal and John Hendry's short-handed score, which came off Oleg Yashin's turnover in the Roanoke end.
Szabo, finally snapping out of his scoring funk, made it 3-2 on the power play at 12:44, driving home Ferschweiler's rebound off Vitucci's pads.
After the goal, Vitucci scuffled momentarily with Ferschweiler in the crease. Ryder, not wanting his masked opponent to gain an upper hand, skated the length of the ice and jumped Vitucci. The two goalies wrestled briefly on the ice before the linesmen intervened.
"I saw [Vitucci] hit Pat so I went down there," said Ryder, whose record is 9-6-0. "I figured if I got tossed, [Vitucci] would get tossed and we'd have the best of that."
After Toledo pushed its lead to 4-2 on Chris Belinger's rebound goal at 16:04, the Express wasted little time retaliating.
Twenty-six seconds later, Will Averill blasted a 40-foot shot past Vitucci off a won draw by Ferschweiler.
Roanoke got even with 1:09 left in the period. Forward Stephen Tepper set up the goal, lugging the puck in from the red line and around the net, where Roger Larche poked it past Vitucci for his first goal with the Express.
After Ferschweiler put Roanoke ahead 5-4, Ryder made it stand up, making several good saves down the stretch.
"This team is sending a message," Ryder said. "We're not going to be easy for anybody."
\ ICE CHIPS: North Division-leading Toledo (17-9-0) is 2-4-0 on its seven-game swing against the tough East Division that ends tonight in Richmond. . . . Ferschweiler's three-point game (one goal, two assists) was his club-high sixth of the season. . . . Tepper, the Kansas City farmhand assigned to the Express last Thursday, made his ECHL debut, replacing Gairin Smith in the Roanoke lineup. Smith will take a six-game sabbatical on Dec. 22 to play in a tournament for Team Canada's B team. . . . The crowd of 2,708 marked the first time in 12 games that the Express had failed to draw 3,000 for a home game. The previous low was 3,029 on Nov. 18. . . . Things get busy for Roanoke now. The Express travels to Charlotte on Thursday and Hampton Roads on Friday before returning home to face Greensboro on Saturday. Toledo 130-4 Roanoke 131-5
First period-1, Toledo, Judson 16 (Hicks), 1:59. 2, Roanoke, Szabo 7 (Averill, Jestadt), 13:45 (pp). Penalties-Galloway, Rke (interference), 11:00; Reeves, Rke (roughing), 13:25; Rohlicek, Tol (hooking), 18:57.
Second period-3, Toledo, Snedden 6 (Rohlicek, Reeves), 3:11 (pp). 4, Toledo, Hendry 7, 11:50 (sh). 5, Roanoke, Szabo 8 (Ferschweiler, Averill), 12:44 (pp). 6, Toledo, Belinger 9 (Hendry, McCreary), 16:04. 7, Roanoke, Averill 2 (Ferschweiler), 16:30. 8, Roanoke, Larche 3 (Tepper, Bouchard), 18:51. Penalties-Larche, Rke (roughing), 2:01; Suhy, Tol (tripping), 5:19; Suhy, Tol (hooking), 11:18 ; Vitucci, Tol (roughing), 12:44; Ryder, Rke double-minor (roughing, leaving crease), 12:44; Galloway, Rke (tripping), 16:51.
Third period-9, Roanoke, Ferschweiler 8 (Averill, Szabo), 9:13. Penalties-Berdichevsky, Rke (tripping), 4:36; Perkins, Tol (high-sticking), 12:05; Potter, Rke (tripping), 13:16; McCreary, Tol (interference), 14:01; Berdichevsky, Rke (slashing), 15:06.
Power-play opportunities-Toledo 1 of 7. Roanoke 2 of 6.
Shots on goal-Toledo 8-13-6-27. Roanoke 19-17-6-42.
Goalies-Toledo, Vitucci, 4-3-0 (42 shots-37 saves). Roanoke, Ryder 9-6-0 (27-23).
Referee-Bob Willer. Linesmen-Dave Spannaus, Mark Hamlett.
A-2,708.
by CNB