THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511050235
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Sean Selmser sliced the puck past Richmond goaltender Sandy Allan with 1:14 remaining in regulation to give the Hampton Roads Admirals a 4-3 victory over the Renegades on Saturday night at the Richmond Coliseum.
With the win, the Admirals improved to 6-1-2 and grabbed a share of the lead in the East Coast Hockey League's Eastern Division. Hampton Roads and Richmond are knotted at 14 points each.
Richmond, which had entered the home-and-home series against the Admirals undefeated, now stands at 7-2-0. The Admirals defeated the Renegades 6-2 Friday night at Scope.
``They played hard,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said after Saturday's game. ``It was playoff hockey this early.''
Admirals goaltender Darryl Paquette showed playoff-level intensity, rejecting 41 shots. In the final two periods, Paquette turned aside 35 of 36 attempts.
``A lot of the shots were from the point,'' Paquette said. ``The guys were letting me see those shots. A lot of the saves were fairly easy.''
Paquette and the Admirals did not seem to suffer from their lack of defensemen. Claude Fillion was serving a one-game suspension and Bob Woods remained sidelined with a pulled stomach muscle.
In addition, forward David St. Pierre is still out with an injury, and forward Jeff Kostuch missed the game for undisclosed personal reasons.
``The guys were pretty fired up for Richmond,'' Paquette said. ``This is our rival. When we come down here, we have to beat them.''
The first period was an offensive battle. Although there were only five penalties assessed, the Renegades scored two power-play goals and the Admirals converted one.
After Hampton Roads' Trevor Halverson opened the scoring at 2:26, Richmond's Mike Burman answered for a 1-1 tie.
Halverson scored a power-play goal at 4:14, and Scott Gruhl flicked a rebound across the goal line to knot the score at 2-all.
Dominic Maltais punched the puck in late in the period for a 3-2 Hampton Roads margin.
The second period was marred by penalties and a lengthy near-brawl that resulted in nine unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties. A total of 54 penalty minutes were assessed. Neither team was able to overcome the chaos and score.
Richmond's Kurt Mallett grabbed a rebound and hammered the puck past Paquette to tie the game at 3-all just 2:14 into the third.
Paquette withstood a flurry of shots before Selmser streaked down the ice and popped in the game-winner. The Renegades pulled Allan in the final minute, but Hampton Roads defenders were able to clear the puck and end the threat.
``Being outshot didn't tell the tale of the game,'' Paquette said. ``I think the guys outplayed them. In the last minute, to get the puck in their end, that just shows it.''
Richmond's Mike Taylor was assessed a 10-minute misconduct and a game misconduct penalty following the game. by CNB