Bakersfield Doubles Up RoadRunners 6-3
February 28, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release
PHOENIX, Ariz. - Mike Wirll had three goals and two assists as he led the Bakersfield Condors over the Phoenix RoadRunners 6-3 Saturday night in front of 3,292 fans at US Airways Center.
The RoadRunners (25-26-3) opened up scoring at 3:08 of the second period when Dan DaSilva scored off a rebound by Jim Jorgenson on the power play. Daniel Sisca had the other assist. The Condors (23-28-7) tied up the game at 1-1 when Mark Derlago scored five-hole on RoadRunners' goalie Chris Beckford-Tseu at 4:52 on the power play. Wirll and Jay Langager assisted.
Bakersfield took a 2-1 lead at 18:14 when Derlago fed the puck across the slot to Wirll who scored to the right of Beckford-Tseu with a two-man advantage. Dave Bonk had the other assist. Then just over a minute later Donny Grover gave the Condors a 3-1 lead, again with a two-man advantage, when he scored from the right circle at 19:17. Derlago and Wirll assisted as the score would hold through the second intermission.
"We got emotionally involved in the second period and it cost us penalties," RoadRunner Head Coach Brad Church said. "The three power play goals in the second ended up being the difference in the game."
The Condors took a commanding three-goal lead at 1:26 of the third period when Chris Kaufman capitalized on a RoadRunners' turnover and rifled a shot past Beckford-Tseu from the left circle. Wirll then gave Bakersfield a 5-1 lead at 5:36 when Derlago fed him a pass from the top left circle. Bonk also assisted.
"We played three games in three nights with travel and only played with five defensemen," Church said. "Fatigue was definitely a factor."
Jorgenson cut the Condors' lead at 7:40 when he scored a shorthanded goal from Sisca from the high slot. Sisca then narrowed Bakersfield's lead to two goals at 17:16 when he tipped in a shot from T.J. Campbell on the power play. John McNabb had the other assist. The RoadRunners pulled Beckford-Tseu with over a minute to play but Wirll finished off his hat trick with 10 seconds left in the game to give the Condors a final 6-3 victory.
"We didn't quit," Church said of the RoadRunners play in the third period. "The guys worked pretty hard, but we still need a little more."
Phoenix out-shot Bakersfield 32-29. Beckford-Tseu stopped 23 shots but suffered the loss to fall to 1-2-1 overall on the season. The RoadRunners went 2-6 on the power play while Bakersfield was 3-7 with the man-advantage.
The RoadRunners return to US Airways Center at 7:05 p.m. Saturday when they kick-off a four-game home-stand against the Bakersfield Condors.
Great seats are still available beginning as low as $8 and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (480) 784-4444, purchasing online at ticketmaster.com or visiting the US Airways Center Box Office. Information on season tickets, half-season packages, and flex plans for the 2008-09 season of Phoenix RoadRunners Hockey are available by calling (602) 462-GOAL.
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