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ECHL Charlotte Checkers

Checkers stymied by South Carolina in 5-1 defeat

December 14, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


Charleston, South Carolina - Tuesday, December 14: The Charlotte Checkers were forced to face one of their sore spots Tuesday night...special teams. South Carolina went 2-4 on the power play while the Checkers went 0-7 as the Stingrays bested the Checkers 5-1 at the North Charleston Coliseum. Charlotte began the night 25th on the power play in the 28-team ECHL, and 27th on the penalty kill. Matt Reid had a pair of goals and an assist while Joe Tenute had three assists for South Carolina. Goalie Kirk Daubenspeck made 33 saves for the Stingrays to secure the win, holding the Checkers to one goal. Dusty Jamieson had the only goal for Charlotte and Alex Westlund made several spectacular saves despite taking the loss in net with 19 saves. The Checkers record on their season-long, eight-game road trip now stands at 1-2-0.

"Special teams were the big difference tonight," said Charlotte coach Derek Wilkinson. "The first two periods even strength, we hung right with them. But they had the better of the special teams play on both ends. The Stingrays gave us a chance to put the game away early with the penalties they took but we didn't capitalize. We worked hard but it wasn't enough."

Charlotte grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first period as Jamieson converted a four-on-one break after taking a nice pass from Mike Wirll. The Checkers had a chance to increase their first period lead as they enjoyed three power play chances in the period, including a brief two-man advantage. However, the Stingrays penalty killing units stymied the struggling Checkers power play before tying up the game with their own power play. Late in the period with Checkers defenseman Paul Lynch serving a double minor for high sticking, Reid scored his first of two goals on the night for the Stingrays to tie the game at 1-1 with 1:56 left in the first period. Charlotte outshot South Carolina 11-7 through the first 20 minutes.

In the second period the Stingrays took the lead at 16:02 when Marty Clapton banged home his fifth goal of the campaign on the power play for a 2-1 South Carolina advantage. The Checkers outshot the Stingrays in the second period 16-9 but were thwarted again on their power play. Charlotte had three more power play opportunities, including a full, two minute, two-man advantage, but was once again shut down by Daubenspeck and the Rays. Westlund kept the Checkers in the game by stopping two Stingrays breakaways, including a two-on-none. Right wing Brandon Cullen did not return after suffering an injury at the end of the second period. He will be evaluated on Wednesday.

Three straight goals in the third period by South Carolina's Robin Gomez, Rich Peverly and Reid put the game away for the Stingrays who won their fourth straight. Despite the loss, the Checkers wound up out-shooting South Carolina 32-24 for the game.

"A lot of their goals were on back door plays and right in front of our net," remarked Wilkinson. "We have to give our goalie a chance to make the saves and we didn't do that tonight."

The Checkers fell to 13-7-2 for 28 points while the Stingrays improved to 12-11-1 for 25 points. Charlotte will continue its eight-game road trip Friday night in Pensacola, Florida when they'll face off against the Ice Pilots at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Following the eight-game road trip, the Checkers will return home to Cricket Arena to host Augusta on Sunday, December 26 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets available at the Cricket Arena Box office, the Charlotte Coliseum box office, and at all Ticketmaster locations. Tickets may also be purchased on line at _www.ticketmaster.com_ (http://www.ticketmaster.com/) or by phone at (704) 522-6500. Group, season and mini-plan tickets cab be purchased through the Charlotte Checkers office by calling (704) 342-4ICE.

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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.

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