Condors Captain Reaches Milestone in Loss
January 8, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Bakersfield Condors News Release
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Sean Venedam scored his 200th professional goal to bring the Condors back from a three goal deficit, but Cam Keith's wrist shot distanced the Alaska Aces to a 7-4 victory in front of 7,142 fans at the Rabobank Arena.
Bakersfield opened scoring five minutes into the game as Dave Bonk crossed the blue line and wound a slapshot into the five-hole of Alaska netminder Matt Underhill, who made contact but saw the puck trickle between his pads and across the goal line. Sean Venedam assisted as the Condors took the early 1-0 lead at 5:28 of the first period.
The Aces answered with a pair of power play goals. The first Alaska tally was recorded by Olivier Filion, who deflected a Cam Keith wrist shot past Ryan Munce to tie the game at 1-1 with 7:08 left in the period. Over three minutes later, Corbin Schmidt deposited a Peter Metcalf pass from the far point on a one-timer on the man-advantage to give the Aces a 2-1 lead.
A quick attack early in the second period gave Alaska a three-goal lead. A power play goal by Joe Talbot who chipped the puck under the crossbar from the top of the crease made it 3-1 Aces at 5:01 of the middle frame. Just 25 seconds later, Ryan Gale led a 2-on-1 attack and dished a pass to Justin Maiser in the slot, who wrested it past Munce to make it 4-1 Aces with 14:34 remaining in the period.
Nick Economakos' pass on the right wing to Sean Venedam created an odd-man rush with Kevin St. Jacques. Venedam fired a slapshot past the left side of Underhill to cut Alaska's lead to 4-2 with 13:18 remaining in the second period. Dennis Shiryaev would bring the Condors within one as he followed the puck into the crease on a Scott Borders backhand shot. Shiryaev dug the puck past Underhill, bringing the Condors back to a 4-3 deficit with 2:14 left on the clock heading into the second intermission.
Past the halfway mark of the third period, Venedam once again found himself on the attack. St. Jacques turned around from the near circle and placed a shot onto the right pad of Underhill. The rebound popped Venedam's way and the Condors captain capitalized, tying the game at 4-4 with his 200th professional goal.
The celebration would be short-lived, as Alaska's Cam Keith answered back with a wrist shot outside the right-wing circle. Keith's attempt sailed past Munce's left shoulder to return the Aces' one-goal lead at 5-4.
The Aces would add tallies by Ryan Ramsey on a one-timer from Alex Leavitt and Joe Talbot, and an empty-netter by Mike Scott to seal the 7-4 victory.
Matt Underhill earned the victory, stopping 27 of 31 Bakersfield shots. Ryan Munce was credited with the loss, despite making 34 saves on 40 Alaska shots faced.
Other notes: In addition to setting a season-high in the ECHL this year, Ryan Munce's 63- save performance last night also set the all-time Bakersfield franchise mark for saves in a single game. The previous mark was 58, set by Brad Guzda on March 12, 1999 in a 5-3 loss at San Diego. Dave Bonk has scored five points in his five games with the Condors this season.
The Condors host the Idaho Steelheads on January 9th for a rare Monday Night tilt. Game time is 7pm, with the arena doors opening at 6pm.
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