FALCONS COME FROM BEHIND TO
WIN IN SHOOTOUT
Embley's Goal in Final Minute Ties Game
ANCHORAGE - Named Player of the
Week earlier in the day, Colin Embley lived
up to the advance billing by scoring twice in regulation, including
with
under a minute to play to force a shootout, and again in the extra
session
as the Fresno Falcons defeated the Anchorage Aces on Tuesday,
4-3, at
Sullivan Arena.
Despite getting outshot 5-0 in
the early going the Falcons struck first,
scoring on their first shot on goal for the second straight game.
Kris
Porter scooped up a loose puck through center after a shot was
blocked in
the Fresno zone, and he fed Jason McBain on the resulting two-on-one
for
McBain's fourth of the season at 7:12. Anchorage managed to even
the score
with a power play goal at 13:44 from Ryan Moren. The Falcons
then got
caught in a bad line change, and Kevin McNeill made them pay by
scoring on a
breakaway at 16:35 to give the Aces a 2-1 lead after one.
Embley notched his first of the
evening to tie the game at two as he danced
around an Anchorage defenseman before beating Aces goaltender
Christian
Soucy at 4:28 of the second. The 2-2 tie lasted most of the second
period
before the Aces took their second one-goal lead on the power play
late in
the frame. Yvan Corbin took the puck away from Kirk DeWaele in
front of
Fresno goaltender Mark Gowan and found the back of the net for
his
league-leading 35th of the year to give the Aces a 3-2 lead heading
to the
third.
The Falcons remained a goal behind
until with 1:58 left they challenged the
Aces' Tim Donnelly for having an illegal stick. For the second
game in a
row, such a challenge was successful, giving Fresno a power play
for the
remainder of the game. With less than a minute to go and Gowan
having gone
to the bench, Embley hopped onto the ice as the extra attacker
and took a
feed from Jason Weaver, which he banged home to tie the game at
three with
47 seconds to play.
In the shootout, Gowan stopped
all four Aces shooters and McBain and Embley
each scored for the Falcons to hand them their league-leading
eighth
come-from-behind victory of the season when trailing after two
periods.
The win moved Fresno to 29-19-5
and 63 points, six points behind both the
Bakersfield Condors and the San Diego Gulls, who are tied in second
place in
the league.
The Falcons continue their current
11-game road trip tomorrow night with
their last game of the season at Sullivan Arena. All of the play-by-play
action can be heard on 103.1 FM, The Mountain Cat, beginning at
7:50 p.m.
PST with the Mail Boxes, Etc. Pre-game Show. Fresno then travels
to Boise
for three games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday against the first-place
Idaho
Steelheads.
1st Period Summary: 1, FRE, McBain
4 (Porter, Weaver), 7:12. 2, ANC, Moren
3 (Csumrik, Corbin), 13:44 (pp). 3, ANC, McNeill 9 (Jones, Csumrik),
16:35.
2nd Period Summary: 4, FRE, Embley
19 (Landry, Schoneck), 4:28. 5, ANC,
Corbin 35 (unassisted), 16:26 (pp).
3rd Period Summary: 6, FRE, Embley 20 (Weaver, Landry), 19:13 (pp).
Shootout Summary: Fresno - Murphy
(miss), Embley (goal), McBain (goal),
Porter (miss)
Anchorage - Corbin (miss), Daniels (miss), Larson (miss), Williams
(miss)
Scoring by Period: 1 2 3 SO F
Fresno 1 1 1 1 4
Anchorage 2 1 0 0 3
Shots on Goal: 1 2 3 T
Fresno 9 12 8 29
Anchorage 13 7 7 27
Saves: Fresno - Gowan (24-27)
Anchorage - Soucy (26-29)
Power Play Results: Fresno - 1
for 6, Anchorage - 2 for 6