Aces Force Game 7 With 3-2 Win
Published on June 5, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Matt Stefanishion scored the game-winning goal with 3:37 left in regulation, propelling Alaska to a 3-2 win over South Carolina and evening the Kelly Cup Finals at three games apiece before a record crowd of 6,610 at Sullivan Arena.
Game Seven, scheduled for tomorrow night at 7:15 p.m., already has sold out in record time, with all 6,410 seats plus 200 standing room only positions gobbled up within 30 minutes of the end of Game Six. Game Seven will be broadcast live on KFQD 750 AM and telecast live on GCI Cable Channel One and KTUU Channel Two. Live coverage, anchored by Jack Michaels and John Carpenter, begins at 7:00 p.m.
The Aces have now lost just eight of 45 games at Sullivan Arena this season, but got off to a rocky start in Game Six, giving up goals to Spencer Carbery and Travis Morin 38 seconds apart seven minutes into the first period. Lance Galbraith tipped home a Stefanishion blast from the point with 2:01 left in the frame, putting Alaska on the board and slicing the deficit to 2-1 at the end of an opening 20 minutes in which the hosts out-shot the Stingrays 16-11.
Josh Soares scored his first goal of the Kelly Cup Finals on a power play less than four minutes into the second period, but while the Aces controlled the action for much of the second and most of the third, the game remained tied 2-2 thanks largely to 'Rays goalie Jonathan Boutin, who finished 35 saves. Stefanishion's winner came after he weaved his way through traffic and finally flipped a backhander that glanced off Boutin, bounced off South Carolina defenseman Zach Tarkir, and trickled into the back of the net. The 'Rays managed just one shot over the game's final three minutes.
Tomorrow's Game Seven marks only the third such contest in the 21-year history of the ECHL Finals. The last such occasion came in 1999, when Mississippi completed a rally from a 3-1 series deficit with a double overtime victory over Richmond in the finale.
2009 KELLY CUP FINALS (all times AT):
Game 1: South Carolina 4, Alaska 2
Game 2: Alaska 3, South Carolina 1
Game 3: South Carolina 4, Alaska 2
Game 4: South Carolina 5, Alaska 0
Game 5: Alaska 3, South Carolina 2 (OT)
Game 6: Alaska 3, South Carolina 2
Game 7: Tomorrow--South Carolina @ Alaska 7:15
ECHL Stories from June 5, 2009
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Aces Force Game 7 With 3-2 Win - Alaska Aces
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