QUICK START HELPS FALCONS TO SHOOTOUT WIN

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Fresno Falcons used a three-goal first period to
snap a six-game road winless streak after defeating the Long Beach Ice Dogs,
5-4 in a shootout, on Friday in front of 2,035 at Long Beach Arena.

Fresno jumped all over the Ice Dogs in the opening frame beginning with an
unassisted short-handed goal by Tyler Prosofsky at 4:42. Cory Murphy would
follow with his second of the year at 12:44 as did Mike Barrie at 17:33 to
give the Falcons a 3-0 lead after the first period.

After generating 13 shots in the first, Fresno mustered just 12 the rest of
the way, and the Ice Dogs eventually found their way back into the hockey
game. Jamie O'Leary scored with the teams skating four-on-four at 6:36 of
the second before Jeff Ewasko brought Long Beach within one off a deflection
at 11:44. Kris Porter responded for the Falcons with his team-leading 11th
tally of the season on the power play off a pretty feed from Murphy at
14:35. Long Beach answered back less than two minutes later, though, when
Jeff Attard put a rebound back by Fresno goaltender Terry Friesen, and
Fresno headed to the third clinging to a 4-3 lead.

Former Falcon Mike Kelleher capped off a three-point night with his first
goal of the season to tie the game at four at 15:28 of the final frame as
the teams were again four-on-four. Fresno had one final chance on the power
play with under two minutes to play but failed to convert, sending them to
their second consecutive shootout.

In the tie-breaker, each club scored twice after the first seven shooters.
The Falcons' eighth shooter, Glen Gulutzan, beat Long Beach goaltender Mike
Buzak before Friesen shut the door on Jeff Marshall to seal the victory.

The win is just Fresno's second of the year away from home and snaps a
three-game overall winless streak. The club pulled itself out of a last
place tie with the Anchorage Aces into sole possession of fifth place at
9-10-3 and 21 points.

Fresno and Long Beach play the finale of this two-game set tomorrow night at
Long Beach Arena. The Falcons will then play the Bakersfield Condors on
Thursday, Dec. 26, before returning home for two games to finish out the
calendar year. They will play the second half of a home-and-home series
with Bakersfield on Friday, Dec. 27, and then welcome the Ice Dogs to
Selland Arena on Saturday, Dec. 28. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m. with
tickets still available at the Selland box office, at all Ticketmaster
locations and online at www. ticketmaster.com.

1st Period Summary: 1, FRE, Prosofsky 3 (unassisted), 4:42 (sh). 2, FRE,
Murphy 2 (Borders, Todd), 12:44. 3, FRE, Barrie 2 (Prosofsky, Landry),
17:33.

2nd Period Summary: 4, LB, O'Leary 8 (Kelleher), 6:36. 5, LB, Ewasko 6
(Attard, Vines), 11:44. 6, FRE, Porter 11 (Murphy, Friesen), 14:35 (pp).
7, LB, Attard 4 (Kelleher, Wismer), 16:33.

3rd Period Summary: 8, LB, Kelleher 1 (O'Leary, O'Connor), 15:28.

Shootout:
Fresno: Todd (goal), Murphy (miss), Duthie (miss), Porter (goal), Barrie
(miss), Mathers (miss), Haupt (miss), Gulutzan (goal)
Long Beach: O'Leary (goal), O'Connor (miss), Pinc (goal), Attard (miss),
Peyton (miss), Willis (miss), Wismer (miss), Marshall (miss)

Scoring by Period: 1 2 3 SO T
Fresno 3 1 0 1 5
Long Beach 0 3 1 0 4

Shots on Goal: 1 2 3 SO T
Fresno 13 8 4 1 26
Long Beach 6 13 12 0 31

Saves: Fresno - Friesen (27-31)
Long Beach - Buzak (21-25)

Power Play Results: Fresno - 1 for 4, Long Beach - 0 for 4