ECHL Charlotte Checkers

Checkers Drop Third Straight In 5-1 Loss To Gwinnett

December 2, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


Charlotte, NC - Tuesday, December 2, 2003) - The Checkers home woes continued Tuesday night at Cricket Arena, as the Gwinnett Gladiators sent Charlotte down to its' third straight loss overall in a 5-1 defeat. Blue Bennefield, Kevin Doell and Cam Brown each had a goal and an assist for the Gladiators, as five different players scored for Gwinnett. Brandon Cullen scored the lone goal for the Checkers. Charlotte's 5-9-3 start is the worst in franchise history after 17 games, and the Checkers home mark fell to 1-6-1.

"We continue to struggle at home," remarked Checkers Head Coach, Don MacAdam. "I'm sure Scott Meyer (Checkers starting goalie) would like to have a few goals back tonight. It seems like we do something different each night to mess things up. I thought Brandon Cullen played well tonight, and he's only going to get better as he's only two games back from his injury. Maybe our road trip to California will help us get back on track."

Gwinnett grabbed a 1-0 lead at 8:42 of the first period as Bennefield poked the puck out of Scott Meyer's glove and into the net. The Gladiators scored again at 16:05 when Brown's wrister eluded Meyer, and Gwinnett took a 2-0 lead into the locker room at the end of the first period. The Gladiators made it 3-0 at 6:49 of the second period as Doell got a feed from behind the net and deposited the puck past Meyer. Charlotte finally got on the scoreboard at 8:12 as Cullen rifled one by Gladiators goalie Michael Garnett from deep in the right wing circle to cut the Gladiators lead to 3-1.

Gwinnett got their three-goal lead back 3:35 into the third period as Wes Fox scored his first goal of the season for a 4-1 Gladiators lead. Less than a minute later, Troy Milam's blast from 30 feet out on a 4-on-3 Gwinnett power play gave the Gladiators a 5-1 advantage which held to the end of the game. Charlotte lost left wing Dusty Jamieson for the last half of the game after he was injured midway through the second period. Defenseman Patrick Aufiero also didn't return after being injured in the third period. Center Konrad McKay missed Tuesday's game after suffering an injury in last Saturday's contest at Greenville.

The win improved the Gladiators record to 13-4-3 for 29 points, while the Checkers fell to 5-9-3 for 13 points. Tonight's home game was the final home game for the Checkers in 18 days, as Friday the team will embark on a seven-game road trip. Six of those games will be in California starting with Friday night's game in San Diego. Charlotte will finally return to Cricket Arena on Saturday, December 20 to host Gwinnett at 7:30 p.m.

CHECKERS TICKETS: All regular season individual game tickets are on sale, and may be purchased at the Cricket Arena Box Office, the Charlotte Coliseum Box Office, and all Ticketmaster locations. Tickets may also be purchased by phone by using a credit card and calling Ticketmaster at (704) 522-6500, and through the Internet at www.ticketmaster.com.

Individual game tickets for the 2003-04 season are priced at $7.00 for balcony seats, $10.00 for end mezzanine seats, $12.00 for side mezzanine seats, $15.00 for circle seats, and $20.00 for box seats.

Season Tickets, mini plans and group tickets remain on sale through the Checkers office. Further information can be obtained by calling the Checkers office at (704) 342-4423.

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ECHL Stories from December 2, 2003


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