THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502040449
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Trevor Halverson said the hardest part of sitting out the last seven weeks with an ankle injury was missing out on all of the fun of winning hockey games.
Friday, he got that good feeling back by helping the Hampton Roads Admirals down the Knoxville Cherokees, 4-2, before a near-sellout crowd of 8,923 at Scope.
Halverson wasted little time in making his presence felt. He took a centering pass from teammate and roommate John Porco and knocked in a short, fast-break wrist shot just 57 seconds into the game.
Rod Taylor added two more goals in the same period and Rick Kowalsky another in the second to give the Admirals a 4-0 lead they made stand up.
Porco had a season-high four assists for Hampton Roads (27-15-4), which pulled within a point of second-place Charlotte in the ECHL's East Division.
``We played a pretty good hockey game,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said. ``We started off real well and maybe laid back a little at the end. But it was a good win. We played hard.
``Halverson is not into game shape yet, but it was a good game for him. He got into things early.
``He's a big man who played the last three years in the American and International hockey leagues. He adds a lot to our team. We've missed having him out there.''
Halverson was sidelined just as the Admirals were hitting a hot streak in which they went from last to a tie for first in the East Division. They won a club-record eight games in a row and won 15 out of 17.
``It was tough watching them having so much fun,'' Halverson said. ``They were playing great and I wasn't with them. I wanted to be out there on the ice.
``The ankle felt pretty good tonight. It was great to be able to play again.''
Taylor had several good shots at garnering his first hat trick of the season, but under the circumstances Brophy was satisfied with two goals. Taylor came down with a head cold earlier this week that was so severe that at times he felt disoriented on the ice.
Brophy was ecstatic with the play in goal of Todd Hunter, who was purchased earlier this week from Raleigh. Hunter had 35 saves.
The Admirals recently lost goaltenders Corwin Saurdiff and Patrick LaLime to the IHL.
``They gave us the best goaltending in the league, but it hasn't dropped off one bit since,'' Brophy said. Hunter has had a 2.3 goals-against average in three games with the Admirals.
``I think a change of scenery has helped me,'' he said. ``They play a great style of defense here.''
That's what Hampton Roads did most of the last 30 minutes - played defense. The Admirals were outscored by Knoxville, 2-0, after Kowalsky's goal, a fact that did not please Taylor, who felt they should have gone for the juggler.
``We played well in the beginning, but we slowed up a bit,'' he said. ``We thought it was going to be easy.
``We had them down and almost let them back in the game. We made some dumb penalties, and they're first in the league in power plays. The first thing you know, and they could have been back in it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Rod Taylor scored two goals to give the Hampton Roads Admirals a
4-0 lead in the second period.
JIM WALKER/Staff
The Admirals' Chris Phelps tries to tie up Knoxville's Doug Searle
on Friday night at Scope.
by CNB