Brusseau Leads Falcons to Victory

February 28, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Fresno Falcons News Release


FRESNO, Calif. – Goaltender Mike Brusseau made 37 saves to help lead the Fresno Falcons to a 2-1 victory over the Bakersfield Condors on Friday in front of 5,123 at Save Mart Center.

Bakersfield's Johan Astrom opened the scoring when he swept in a rebound to finish off a three-on-two rush at 6:12 of the first period. The Falcons responded off a clean face-off win in the Condors' zone, which led to a blast from the point by Neil Wilkinson for his first in a Fresno uniform at 14:13 of the opening period.

The teams remained tied at one throughout most of the second. Bakersfield out-shot Fresno, 15-8, but Brusseau made several difficult saves to keep the visitors at bay. At 18:20 Michael Kiesman absorbed a bit hit at his own blue-line to spring Kris Porter up ice with two line-mates on a three-on-one. Porter kept the puck himself and beat Condors goaltender Shane Bendera to the glove side for his 12th of the season.

The Falcons played a smart, defensive third as they protected their one-goal lead. Bakersfield was able to pull Bendera over the final minute in favor of the extra attacker but never really tested Brusseau with a final flurry.

Fresno snapped a two-game losing streak with the win and defeated the Condors for the first time this season at Save Mart Center in the teams' 10th and final clash of the campaign.

The Falcons now travel to Long Beach to play the Ice Dogs on Saturday before heading to Las Vegas to face the Wranglers on Sunday. Both games can be heard live on KAAT 103.1 FM with Saturday's Shop and Go Pre-game Show beginning at 6:50 p.m. and Sunday's getting underway at 4:50 p.m.



ECHL Stories from February 28, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central