THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, December 12, 1994 TAG: 9412120186
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
After a protracted delay, The Rocket has finally ignited, and so have the Hampton Roads Admirals.
The Admirals rode their defense and the goaltending of Patrick LaLime for 50 minutes, then exploded for four goals in the final 10 minutes to roll past the Richmond Renegades, 7-3, Sunday afternoon.
Rod ``The Rocket'' Taylor, who slumped through 20 games, scored a goal for the fourth contest in a row and added three assists for the Admirals (11-10-3), who have won three in a row over East Division leader Richmond (16-5-5).
The victory, combined with a 3-2 Hampton Roads triumph last Friday at Scope, was sweet revenge for the Admirals, who lost three times to Richmond while suffering through their worst start ever - 5-8-1. The Admirals have gone 6-2-2 in the 10 games since.
Sunday's loss was the first in regulation in 15 games at the Richmond Coliseum for the slumping Renegades, who are winless in their last four games and have seen a 10-point lead over second-place Charlotte shrink to four.
``The measure of a team is how you play when you're losing, how you pull out of it,'' Admirals' coach John Brophy said. ``We played our way out of it. We're getting stronger and playing with more confidence every game.''
``Now they're in the same ----hole that we were in,'' he added, gesturing toward the Richmond locker room. ``Let's see how they do.''
The Admirals got superb goaltending and a physical defensive effort for the fourth game in a row, a stretch in which they've gone 3-0-1.
Friday, it was Corwin Saurdiff in goal who knocked away 38 Richmond shots. On Sunday, LaLime allowed two first-period goals, then made a series of sparkling saves in the second and third periods.
``We've given up three goals or less every game during this streak,'' Brophy said. ``We've gotten great goaltending and our defense was outstanding.
``That's the way things used to be here.''
It was the Admirals' offense, especially from Taylor and Jim Brown, that broke the game open.
Brown scored two goals - he also had a goal Friday - to break out of a scoring slump of his own. Brendan Curley, the team's second-leading scorer last season, added his second goal of the season and two assists.
Yet it was a defenseman who scored the game winner, albeit with a big helping hand from Curley and Taylor.
A minute after Richmond's Shane Henry tied the score at 3-3, Curley slapped a long pass to Taylor, who heaved a wraparound pass to defenseman Ron Pascucci just across the blue line. Pascucci fired a slap shot past goaltender Verne Guetens at 10:39 to give the Admirals a 4-3 lead.
Brown salted the victory away with a breakaway, power-play goal on a pass from Trevor Halverson at 17:13 to make it 5-3.
Rather than coast the final 2:47, the Admirals then kept pouring it on. Rick Kowalsky scored at 17:38 and John Porco at 19:52 as hundreds of Admirals fans in the announced crowd of 5,009 roared their approval.
Brown said the Admirals' aggressiveness in the final 10 minutes is indicative of the change that's come over the team.
``I think we were thinking too defensively,'' he said. ``Every time we we score a goal, Mr. Brophy yells at us to attack and we hadn't been doing that.
``We've been attacking lately. That's one reason we're winning.''
Taylor's goal, at 19:49 of the first period, turned the momentum to the Admirals' favor. Despite being outshot, 13-8, up to that point, the Renegades led, 2-0.
But Taylor backhanded the rebound of a Rob MacInnis miss over Guetens' shoulder to make it 2-1 with just 11 seconds left.
``That killed us,'' Richmond coach Roy Sommer said. ``It gave them life. We were in control of the game. I thought it was the turning point.''
And the two-game series with Richmond could be viewed as a turning point for the Admirals.
``This was a big win, a must win,'' Brophy said. ``We don't play again for a week (against Raleigh on Friday at Scope) and we needed the two points from this game.
``Now we'll take a week off, and come back even stronger.'' by CNB