'Blades cough up lead, fall 5-4 to Columbia
March 11, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades (37-19-3) watched the Columbia Inferno (21-32-7) score three third period goals to erase a two-goal deficit and pull out a 5-4 win in front of a crowd of 7,166 at Germain Arena.
For the second straight night the Inferno opened the scoring when Brandon Nolan tallied his 17th goal of the season at 8:07 of the first period. The Everblades however responded with a pair of late first period goals to carry a one-goal lead into the intermission. Chris Lee tied the game for the Everblades notching his ninth goal of the season at 9:58 and Kevin Bergin gave the Everblades their first lead of the night after rifling a shot past Columbia net-minder Chris Houle at 16:58.
Midway through the second period, the Inferno tied the game when Jeff Miles' shot from the top of the right circle tipped off the glove of Everblades goaltender Phil Osaer and slid across the goal line. Once again the Everblades persevered and tallied two late second period goals to open a 4-2 lead. Steve Saviano regained Florida's lead with a power play goal at 15:58 and just 50 seconds later Reggie Berg notched his ninth goal of the year to give the Everblades the two-goal lead.
The Everblades, who were 23-1-1 when leading after two periods, watched the Inferno stage an emotional come back in the final 20 minutes.
Despite starting the third period on the power play, the Everblades watched Columbia tally a short-handed goal just 30 seconds into the period when Dallas Flaman deflected a shot past Osaer. The Inferno battled back to tie the game at four at 8:55 of the period when Mike Stathopoulos deflected a centering pass from Nolan into the net. Columbia completed the comeback with 7:45 remaining in regulation when Miles notched his second of the night while the Inferno held the power play.
Osaer suffered the loss in net for the Everblades allowing the five goals on 37 Columbia shots, which dropped his record to 17-10-2. Houle, who faced 53 shots on Friday night, turned away 45 of 49 Florida shots tonight to earn the win and raise his record to 11-20-4.
On the power play, the Everblades finished the night 1-for-6, while the Inferno closed out game going 1-for-3.
The Everblades return to action on Tuesday, March 14 when they host on the Columbia Inferno at 7:30 p.m. from Germain Arena.
Everblades half season, group tickets, and individual game tickets are on sale now! Fans can purchase tickets at the Germain Arena box office, which is open from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets can also be purchased over the phone by calling TicketMaster at (239) 334-3309, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For additional information, contact the Everblades office at (239) 948-7825.
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