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Aces Week In Review

January 3, 2005 - SPHL (SPHL)
Asheville Aces News Release


THIS WEEK:

THU January 6 Columbus @ ACES 7:30 p.m. Asheville Civic Center

Asheville and Columbus meet for the third time this season. Columbus is coming off a New Year's Day victory in Asheville in which they had 62 shots on Aces goalie Mark Scally.

Season Series: Columbus leads 2-0 (Last Meeting: 4-2 loss @ ASH, 1/1/04)

All Time Series: Columbus leads 2-0

FRI January 7 ACES @ Columbus 7:30 p.m.

With this being the third meeting in a row for these two teams, and the second in as many nights, it should be a game to remember. The Aces will look to get revenge for their loss the first time they met in southern Georgia.

SAT January 8 ACES @ Jacksonville 7:05 p.m. Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena

This is the second time the Aces will head to Florida this season. Last time they played in Jacksonville, they won a thrilling overtime game 3-2, stunning the crowd with a come-from-behind finish from a two-goal deficit. Former Barracuda, Dan Pszenyczny had a critical assist on the OT winner making the victory even sweeter for the Aces.

Season Series: Jacksonville leads 2-1 (Last Meeting: 3-2 OT win @ JAX, 12/30/04)

All Time Series: Jacksonville leads 2-1

LAST WEEK:

MON Dec. 27 ACES @ Knoxville (5-2 LOSS) 7:30 p.m. Knoxville Coliseum

The final score in Knoxville tonight was 5-2 in favor of the Ice Bears. The first period was a 1-1 draw with Knoxville's K.J. Voorhees opening the scoring and Asheville's Brett Roat putting the Aces on the board with a highlight reel goal with three seconds to go in the period beating Knoxville goalie Jeff Roynane (36 saves on 38 shots).

Unfortunately for the Aces, Roat's goal was the highlight of the night. The wheels fell off for the second night in a row as they quickly found themselves down 4-1 after four minutes of play in the second.

The troubles started for Asheville early on in the second when they gave up a two-on-one that was finished off by Ice Bear David Bagley. Another two-on-one quickly followed and the score was 3-1 with Bagley again getting the goal. With all the momentum, Todd MacIsaac capitalized on a short rebound in front of Aces goalie Mark Scally, burying the puck upstairs for the 4-1 lead. The Ice Bears fifth goal came from Kevin Swider on the powerplay mid-way through the second.

With time running out in the third, Asheville's Joel Petkoff fired a slap shot past Roynane but it was too little too late.

The Aces were once again victims of their own mistakes as several poor defensive decisions led to all of the Knoxville scoring chances. Scally was solid in net stopping 35 of 40 shots but could not hold off the onslaught from the Ice Bears.

THU Dec. 30 ACES @ Jacksonville (3-2 OT WIN) 7:05 p.m. Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena

There were cuts, bruises, broken noses and blood on the ice, but when all was said and done, the Asheville Aces had two points.

Falling behind quickly 2-0 in the first period, the Aces showed grit, team toughness and lots of character battling back to tie the game in the second frame. A scoreless third period led to overtime where the Aces quickly ended the game with a beautiful deflection of a Dan Pszenyczny point shot by Janus Tomans. The scoring play started with a great rush by Jarno Mensonen who lots the handle on the puck as he tried to deke Jacksonville goalie Randy Hevey. Mensonen, who was able to maintain puck possession deep in the Jacksonville end, then fed the puck to Tomans who sent it to the point. Pszenyczny threw a quick wrist shot to the net where Tomans masterfully redirected the puck into the net for the victory.

The Aces stepped up their physical game led by new additions Nobumasa Kinugasa and Chris Cloutier. Chris Ferguson was also a physical force as he dropped the gloves with Jacksonville's Schneider - both players left the ice with facial cuts. Kinugasa scored the first Aces goal by going hard to the net and picking up a rebound to bury. Peter Bournazakis tied the game on the powerplay with a blast from the point that Hevey could not stop.

Head Coach Jeff Brubaker summed up the contest by saying, "Both teams spilled an inordinate amount of blood tonight, most the result of hard-nosed checking and players on both teams putting their noses into harms way." In addition to the physical aspect of their game, the Aces played one of their strongest overall defensive games. "We were very effective neutralizing Jacksonville's great speed with a defensive minded approach - we didn't give them many chances to get the puck into our zone and set-up their offence," Brubaker stated.

FRI Dec. 31 ACES @ Fayetteville (6-1 LOSS) 7:30 p.m. Crown Coliseum

Following a solid come from behind overtime victory in Jacksonville on Thursday night, the Aces were unable to make it two in a row versus the Fire Antz on Friday. The Aces dropped Friday night's contest 6-1 despite a strong start to the game.

Asheville's Dan Beland opened the scoring on the night putting a rebound past Fayetteville goalie Chad Collins at the 2:34 mark of the first period. That was all the offensive production the Aces would see on the night as the Fire Antz took control of the game with three first period powerplay goals. Steve Roberts, Tim Perry and Josh Welter had the powerplay makers for Fayetteville.

In the second period, penalty trouble again cost the Aces as the Caleb Moffat scored on the powerplay to make it 4-1. Things started to get a little more physical in the second with Aces newcomer Chris Cloutier squaring off with Fire Ant Paul Vincent. Asheville's Chris Ferguson and Fayetteville's Caleb Moffat also mixed it up in the second.

The third period saw more bad luck for the Aces as a fluke goal 38 seconds into the frame put the Fire Antz up 5-1. Josh Fey added the sixth Fire Antz goal on the night six minutes later. The Aces seemed to get some life back late in the third but it was too little too late. As the game clock ran down, the Aces frustration began to show as Chris Ferguson dropped the gloves with Mike Fournier with less than a minute to go in the game.

Asheville's Ryan Person had the loss in net stopping 42 of 48 shots on the night. Collins for Fayetteville blocked 34 of the 35 shots thrown at him for the win.

SAT Jan. 1 Columbus @ ACES (4-2 LOSS) 7:30 p.m. Asheville Civic Center

The Asheville Aces finished off the week with a tough loss to the Columbus Cottonmouths on Saturday night. With the 4-2 loss, the Aces now sit in sixth place in the SPHL standings, two points ahead of the Fayetteville Fire Antz.

The Aces played a strong game but were not able to capitalize on numerous powerplay opportunities. Mark Scally was outstanding between the pipes stopping 58 of 62 shots. The Cottonmouths, on the other hand, scored three of their four goals on the powerplay.

The Aces survived the first period, only giving up one goal, and were able to kill off a four minute double minor penalty in the final minutes of the period to head to the dressing room only down one. Things opened up in the second and the action was end to end but both teams were unable to score until late in the period. Columbus' Chris Rook potted a powerplay goal with just over two minutes to go, but Asheville's Chris Ferguson was quick to reply with a beautiful goal to bring the Aces back to within one.

A quick goal to open the third by Cottonmouth Tim Green set the Aces back, and then nearing the final buzzer, Len Masita made it 4-1. There was no quit in the Aces, however, and Dan Pszenyczny made it 4-2. With Scally pulled, the Aces pressed but were unable to add any more goals.

Despite the tough losses this week, Head Coach Jeff Brubaker is optimistic that his team is heading in the right direction. The additions of Cloutier and Kinugasa have helped elevate the physical play of the whole team. "We meet Columubus again this Thursday and we will definitely have a solid gameplan in place to eliminate their good team speed and produce offense of our own - especially on the powerplay." Brubaker said.

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