FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2002

FALCONS OUT-GUNNED BY STEELHEADS

BOISE, Idaho - Two goals in the opening 4:18 proved the difference on Saturday as the Idaho Steelheads defeated the Fresno Falcons, 4-2, in front of 4,941 at the Bank of America Centre.

The Steelheads' high-powered offense got things going early when Scott Burt scored unassisted at 2:39 of the first. He picked up a carom off a linesman's skate before beating Fresno goaltender Terry Friesen. Burt's effort was followed by Adam Copeland's third of the season when he scored off a rebound and the Falcons trailed, 2-0. Fresno cut Idaho's lead to 2-1 by the end of the period when defenseman Drew Schoneck followed up bids by Glen Gulutzan, Kris Porter AND Jason Weaver to finally beat Jason Cugnet for his second of the season at 14:51.

Fresno would notch the equalizer 8:23 into the second after Weaver forced a turnover off the forecheck and got the puck to Kris Porter, who out-deked Cugnet for his team-leading 14th tally of the year. Idaho's Petr Suchanek gave his club their second lead of the night, 3-2, when he went essentially coast-to-coast for an unassisted goal at 14:57.

Trailing 3-2 entering the third, the Falcons had four power play chances throughout the final frame but could not solve the league's number one rated penalty kill. The Steelheads' Marty Flichel added some insurance with his 19th of the season at 11:27 for the final margin of 4-2.

The loss drops the Falcons back to .500 at 12-12-4. Their 28 points have them in fourth place in the WCHL standings, nine points behind the Bakersfield Condors.

Fresno's longest road trip to date continues on Tuesday and Wednesday in Anchorage against the Aces. Both games begin at 7:50 p.m. PST with the Mail Boxes, Etc. Pre-game Show. The club then journeys back to California for games at Bakersfield and Long Beach next weekend before returning to Selland Arena on Sunday, Jan. 12, to battle with the Aces. Tickets are still available for the 5 p.m. start at the Selland box office, all Ticketmaster locations and online at www.ticketmaster.com.

1st Period Summary: 1, ID, Burt 2 (unassisted), 2:39. 2, ID, Copeland 3 (Shermerhorn, Suchanek), 4:18. 3, FRE, Schoneck 2 (Weaver, Porter), 14:51.

2nd Period Summary: 4, FRE, Porter 14 (Weaver), 8:23. 5, ID, Suchanek 3 (unassisted), 14:57.

3rd Period Summary: 6, ID, Flichel 19 (Copeland), 11:27.

Scoring by Period: 1 2 3 F
Fresno 1 1 0 2
Idaho 2 1 1 4

Shots on Goal: 1 2 3 T
Fresno 8 12 7 27
Idaho 9 6 11 26

Saves: Fresno - Friesen (22-26)
Idaho - Cugnet (25-27)

Power Play Results: Fresno - 0 for 5, Idaho - 0 for 6