MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brian Clark
February 26, 2003
bclark@fresnofalcons.com
FALCONS RUN OUT OF COME-FROM-BEHIND
MAGIC
Fresno Falls, 5-4
ANCHORAGE - Trying to overcome
a late one-goal deficit for the second
straight evening against the Anchorage Aces, the Fresno Falcons
could not
duplicate their last-minute game-tying efforts from the night
before as they
fell to the Aces, 5-4, on Wednesday at Sullivan Arena.
Despite some early pressure from
the Falcons it was the Aces that drew first
blood. Kevin McNeill scored off a rebound at 4:33 of the first
to give his
club a 1-0 lead. Anchorage would extend its lead off another
rebound goal.
This time they were on the power play when Fresno netminder Mark
Gowan made
a blocker save that ended up right on the stick of the second
leading goal
scorer in league history, Paul Williams, who made it a 2-0 contest
at 11:46.
Fresno cut into the Aces' 2-0
lead to begin the second when a puck caromed
off the body of Jordan Landry past Anchorage goaltender Christian
Soucy for
his third of the year just 1:28 into the frame. The Aces responded
quickly
when Jason Modopoulos sent home his second of the season at 4:40,
only to be
answered by the Falcons' Kris Porter with his team-leading 25th
at 5:56,
keeping the game a one-goal contest, 3-2 in favor of the Aces.
Fresno
captain Jason Weaver scored a rare short-handed goal with his
club two men
down, but the Aces re-grabbed a 4-3 advantage while still skating
five-on-three when Dean Larson one-timed a loose puck past Gowan
at 15:23.
Landry tied the game again at
four just 2:09 into the third period to
register the first two-goal game of his young career after taking
a perfect
feed cross-ice to the far post from Brad Both. Yet the Aces would
once
again move in front, this time for good. After a face-off at
center ice,
Kimbi Daniels took advantage of Falcons defenseman Kirk DeWaele,
who lost an
edge scrambling for a loose puck. Off the ensuing break-away,
Daniels
scored his 16th of the season unassisted at 11:22 for the final
5-4 margin.
The loss to Anchorage was Fresno's
first this year at Sullivan Arena in
seven meetings, dropping the club to 29-20-5 overall with 63 points.
They
trail the third-place San Diego Gulls by six points in the standings.
The Falcons continue their current
11-game road trip with three in a row
over the weekend against the Idaho Steelheads in Boise. All three
radio
broadcasts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will begin at 5:50 p.m.
PST on
103.1 FM, The Mountain Cat, with the Mail Boxes, Etc. Pre-game
Show. Fresno
does not play at home until they welcome the Bakersfield Condors
to Selland
Arena on March 14.
1st Period Summary: 1, ANC, McNeill
10 (Moren, Larson), 4:33. 2, ANC,
Williams 6 (Moren, Larson), 11:46 (pp).
2nd Period Summary: 3, FRE, Landry
3 (Schoneck, Embley), 1:28. 4, ANC,
Modopoulos 2 (McNeill), 4:40. 5, FRE, Porter 25 (Murphy), 5:56.
6, FRE,
Weaver 19 (unassisted), 14:27 (sh). 7, ANC, Larson 24 (Daniels,
Batyrshin),
15:23 (pp).
3rd Period Summary: 8, FRE, Landry
4 (Both, Embley), 2:09. 9, ANC, Daniels
16 (unassisted), 11:22.
Scoring by Period: 1 2 3 F
Fresno 0 3 1 4
Anchorage 2 2 1 5
Shots on Goal: 1 2 3 T
Fresno 13 7 3 23
Anchorage 9 10 4 23
Saves: Fresno - Gowan (18-23)
Anchorage - Soucy (19-23)