ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 11, 1997 TAG: 9703110112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
Roanoke could have forged a tie for third place, but Richmond takes an early lead and holds on.
The Roanoke Express failed in its bid to catch the Richmond Renegades in the East Coast Hockey League standings by losing to the Renegades 4-2 Monday night.
Tom MacDonald scored two goals in the first period for Richmond (36-20-4), which remains in third place in the East Division, four points ahead of Roanoke (34-22-4). An Express victory would have pulled it into a third-place tie with the Renegades.
The rare Monday game was originally scheduled for Jan.19, but a fire at the Richmond Coliseum forced its postponement.
MacDonald scored at 7:29 of the first period and made it 2-0 by finishing a pass from former Roanoke Valley Rampage sniper Scott Burfoot at 13:11.
The Express pulled within a goal when Tim Christian scored his 22nd goal of the season just 31 seconds into the second. The Renegades quickly snuffed out a possible Express rally when Jeff Harper swiped the puck and beat Dave Gagnon through the pads at 1:11.
Burfoot added an unassisted goal at 17:36 of the second to make it 4-1.
Back-up goalie Sylvain Careau saw his first action in an Express uniform when he filled in for Gagnon in the third and stopped all six Richmond shots.
Roanoke's Jeff Loder scored 4:33 into the third to make it 4-2, but the Express could not push the puck past Renegades netminder Tripp Tracy in the final 15 minutes.
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB