THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 27, 1994 TAG: 9410270644
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals played sloppy defense. At times their passing was sloppy. Even the Scope ice was uncharacteristically sloppy.
But the outcome Wednesday couldn't have been more to the Admirals' liking.
Buoyed by two goals apiece from Rod Taylor and Jim Brown, the Admirals rolled past the archrival Greensboro Monarchs, 9-5, before 5,610 jubilant fans.
Though the Admirals seemed to score virtually at will, their defense was at times woeful.
``It was not a textbook game, but it was worth two points,'' said Admirals coach John Brophy, whose team took a 7-2 lead, then allowed three consecutive Greensboro goals before finally pulling away.
``We played well in spurts, but when we got the lead, we sat back a little.''
Added Taylor: ``If the puck hadn't bounced in the net for us a few times, we might have been in trouble. We've got to be more consistent if we want to be contenders this season.''
The Admirals were perhaps most inconsistent at goaltender, where Shamus Gregga started and played poorly after a sterling effort four days earlier in a 2-1 loss to Charlotte.
He gave up four goals, including one in the first period as
Greensboro's Brendan Creagh simply tried to dump the puck into the Admirals' end. The puck went over Gregga's shoulder, glanced off his glove and into the net.
``I just misjudged it,'' Gregga said. ``It was a nightmarish game for me.''
The nightmare continued 27 seconds into the third period, when Darryl Noren flipped the puck into the goal on a faceoff. With the score 7-4 and the Monarchs rallying, Brophy yanked Gregga and inserted Patrick LaLime.
Greensboro's Davis Payne then scored at 4:38 to cut the lead to 7-5, but Hampton Roads dominated the rest of the way.
LaLime stopped Greensboro's final eight shots on goal, and Rick Kowalsky and Tom Menicci tallied consecutive goals just 37 seconds apart to ice the victory.
Menicci's may have been the game's most picturesque. Facing two Greensboro defenders, he skated past one, then passed the puck around another and muscled his way past him before flipping the puck past Greensboro's Bill Horn.
Brophy praised LaLime, but said Gregga's woes were understandable given the nature of the ice, which was soft, white and wet.
``There were a couple of goals that bounced in on us,'' Brophy said. ``We were playing in a snowbank to begin with, the way the puck was bouncing around. I don't know what happened with our ice, but it wasn't like it has been.
``Those kinds of bounces really hurt a goaltender, it can hurt his confidence, because he doesn't know what the (bleep) is going on.
``LaLime really came in and played well in the third period, we were playing so slack and so open.
``I hope we can play a better game defensively Friday night'' against Richmond at Scope.
Offensively, it was the best night of the season for Hampton Roads. Dennis McEwen, John Porco, and Trevor Halverson also scored for the Admirals, who evened their record at 2-2. Brown, Halverson and Matt Mullgrave had two assists apiece.
The final minutes may have been the most frustrating of the game for Hampton Roads as the Monarchs, hesitant to fight in the first two periods, began swinging fists.
Dean Zayonce was assessed a 10-minute misconduct for trying to goad Menicci into fighting at 16:22. A minute later, Trevor Senn was ejected for fighting with Taylor.
Taylor never threw a fist but was given a roughing penalty. When he slammed the door to the penalty box, he was given a 10-minute misconduct.
``All I saw was a red sweater pull him out and start fighting, and we get 12 minutes and they get 12 minutes,'' Brophy said with a shrug. ``There shouldn't have been a penalty at all from what I saw. I don't know what he did.''
Greensboro (2-2), which has lost two in a row, drew a postgame tonguelashing from coach Jeff Brubaker.
``We made the Admirals look like champs,'' he said. ``I hope there weren't any scouts in the stands tonight looking for goaltending help. We were playing better hockey than that on the third day of training camp.
``Neither club showed up tonight with much of an attitude. We may have been playing a little wait-and-see, and same with them. When it appeared nobody really wanted to get into it quite this early, then the whole thing degenerated into a Saturday morning skate.''
``We're a much, much, much better club than we showed tonight.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI/Staff
The Admirals' John Porco, left, celebrates a first-period goal with
teammate Ron Pascussi.
by CNB