THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412080617
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Eight South Carolina players picked up the puck at the red line and skated down the ice, only to see their shots snuffed by Hampton Roads goaltender Patrick LaLime.
But the ninth, right wing Mike Bavis, was not to be denied. He slipped a short wrist shot between LaLime's legs, lifting the Stingrays to a 4-3 shootout victory over the Admirals.
Hampton Roads forward Mike Nemirovsky, the ninth Admiral to shoot in the final period, could have knotted the score and continued the shootout. But his wrist shot hit the left goalpost and sailed wide for the luckless Admirals, who had four shots in the shootout and two Rod Taylor shots in regulation hit a goalpost or crossbar.
The defeat, which counts as a tie for Hampton Roads (9-10-3) and gives the team a point in the ECHL's scoring system, was witnessed by a Scope crowd of 5,262, the smallest to see the Admirals at home since Feb. 13, 1991.
Hampton Roads coach John Brophy had high praise for LaLime. But the Admirals were at times listless during regulation, and that drew his ire.
``The word zombies comes to mind,'' said Brophy, whose team won at Raleigh on Tuesday night before busing to Norfolk while South Carolina took the night off.
``Maybe that's as hard as we can go when we play two nights in a row. I don't know. If that's as good as we can play, that's as good as we can play and we'll have to live with it.
``I guess we got our win for the month in Raleigh. We didn't do the things we did to win last night. But they (the Stingrays) had something to do with it. They played well. We got a point tonight, and we were lucky to get that.''
The Admirals got goals from Jim Brown and John Porco in the first two periods and entered the third with the score tied, 2-2.
South Carolina missed a chance to take the lead on a two-minute power play to begin the period that resulted from a bench minor on Hampton Roads for leaving the bench too soon at the end of the second period.
The Admirals held off the power play, but South Carolina's Scott Boston put a shot between LaLime's legs at 3:24 to give the Stingrays a 3-2 lead.
The Admirals tied the score on a power play set up by the hustle of forward Kelly Sorensen, who outskated two South Carolina players for a loose puck near the Stingrays' goal with nine minutes left. Rather than give Sorensen a clear shot at the puck, South Carolina's Brad Pascall grabbed him from behind, resulting in a two-minute minor for holding.
The Admirals then pummeled South Carolina goaltender Jason Fitzsimmons with four shots in 13 seconds. The fourth, a slap shot by Porco, rebounded back to Taylor, who put it in the net at 11:32.
For Taylor, the team's leading scorer last season, it was the first time this season he has scored goals in back-to-back games.
However, Fitzsimmons held off the Admirals the rest of regulation and during the five-minute overtime.
Hampton Roads was denied a chance to send Trevor Halverson, the team's third-leading scorer and team captain, into the shootout when he was assessed penalties for fighting and instigating and was handed a game misconduct that carries with it an automatic ejection with seven seconds left in the overtime.
The penalties were the result of a short fight with Bavis, who drew only a major for fighting, and thus was allowed to participate in the shootout.
``When your goaltender stops eight in a shootout, you figure you should win,'' Brophy said. ``But their goaltender stopped everything we had in the shootout.
``The better team won tonight.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by Paul Aiken
South Carolina's Rob Sumner, right, delivers a shot to the Admirals'
John Porco in front of the Stingrays' goal.
by CNB