CHL Colorado Eagles

Amarillo Gets First Win of Season in Shootout

Published on November 3, 2007 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


AMARILLO, Texas - The Gorillas picked up their first win of the season tonight by downing the Eagles 5-4 in a shootout. Eagles' rookie goaltender, Ian Keserich, making his first professional start, stopped 40 of 44 shots and made several big saves (many coming off of numerous Amarillo odd-man breaks), but the lone shooter to beat him in the shootout was enough to ruin his special night and drop the defending champions' record to 3-2-2.

Amarillo and Colorado skated to a 1-1 tie after one. The Gorillas' leading scorer and assistant coach, Chris Lipsett, got his team on the board first with a power play goal at 10:47 after a lengthy delay to fix the glass in the Eagles' end. But Colorado's captain, Greg Pankewicz, answered with a goal of his own on a dish from Seth Leonard to even the score. The period would end with Colorado on the penalty kill -- their fourth of the period (on Riley Nelson's third penalty in the first).

The scoreboard got a workout in the second period, like it has much of the season when Colorado plays (of their 26 goals-for and 24 goals-against coming into the game, 13 and 11 respectively, have come in the second). Ed McGrane got his 11th point of the season (5-6-11) when, skating 4-on-4, his point shot went wide, but deflected in off of a Gorillas' defenseman. Dave Iannazzo picked up his first point as an Eagle with the second assist (Paul Esdale, back in the lineup, got the first assist). Amarillo's Jason Chafe answered that goal with a power play tally at 12:14. Less than two minutes later, after a turnover at the Amarillo blue line, a three-on-two rush developed and Matt Miller dropped a pass to Grant Selinger in the slot, who blew a shot by Keserich for a 3-2 lead. Just over two minutes later, the Gorillas made it 4-2 when Miller, streaking in from the the goalie's right, poked in a Chafe rebound for Amarillo's third power play goal of the night. Leonard would finish the scoring in the second when he threw a Pankewicz rebound past McWhinney for an Eagles' power play goal (McGrane got the second assist).

The Eagles, led by Keserich, kept the Gorillas at bay in the third despite taking five more penalties, and having to kill two full five-on-three's. With just 3:54 left, Scott Polaski tied the game at 4 when he threw a rebound through traffic and past Dan McWhinney from the low slot. That's how it would stay until the post-overtime shootout.

In the CHL's best-of-five shootout format, McWhinney stopped everything thrown at him by McGrane (shot wide), Iannazzo (hit post), Nelson (leg save), Schneekloth (glove save on backhand) and Pankewicz as the Gorillas picked up their first win of the season on Lipsett's goal; he came in fast, slowed to almost a stop at the hash marks, skated to his left to draw Keserich down and out of position, and threw the puck into the half-empty net.

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 3, 2007


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