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ECHL Bakersfield Condors

Condors on Verge of Franchise History

March 10, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Bakersfield Condors News Release


Last Week

Tuesday, March 4
Attendance: 4,518

Willett's big night

Paul Willett recorded a goal and an assist to reach the 1,000-point plateau in his career, and help give the Condors a 5-2 victory on Tuesday night at Centennial Garden. His linemate J.J. Wrobel scored twice as well, while Christian Skoryna and Jeff Goldie put the game out of reach with late tallies in the third period. Willett's 1,000th point came on his 20th goal of the season, 4:37 into the third period, snapping a 2-2 tie. Rookie netminder Beau Fritz stopped 30 shots in improving to 3-0 on the season. The 21-year old has allowed only seven goals in his three starts.

Friday, March 7
First of two in Idaho

The Condors battled the Steelheads on Friday night in a defensive showdown, but came up just short, falling 2-1 in Boise. J.J. Wrobel stripped the puck from netminder Jason Cugnett behind the goal line and fed Paul Willett in front of the open net, who slammed it home for his 21st of the season and the 1-0 lead. Late in the second period, after the Condors failed to clear the zone, Dan Shermerhorn redirected a point blast past goalie Kevin St. Pierre for the equalizer with just 1:28 remaining in the stanza. The Steelheads pushed in front halfway through the third, with Adam Copeland scoring on a wraparound for the eventual game winner.

Saturday, March 8
Condors drop another in Idaho

Another tight-checking, intense affair took place on Saturday, but again went the Steelheads way as they won 3-1. Derek Paget beating Condors goaltender Beau Fritz for the 1-0 lead in the first period. Bakersfield tied the game at 1-1 during the second period with a goal by defenseman David Bell, who wove his way through the Idaho defense for a breakaway and tickled the twine for his second goal of the season. In the same period, however, Dampy Brar scored his 12th of the campaign to make it 2-1 Idaho, and later in the third period assisted on an empty net goal to bring the final score to 3-1.

Sunday, March 9
Attendance: 4,921

On top of Fresno again

Bakersfield returned home to host the Fresno Falcons on Sunday, and won 3-1 to improve to 11-1-1 against their Highway 99 rivals. Nate Anderson gave the Condors a 1-0 lead in the first with his 13th goal of the season. Fresno's Alex Todd tied it during the second period with his second of the season, only to have the Condors regain the lead just six and a half minutes later. Paul Rosebush finished off an odd-man rush for his 14th goal of the season. Christian Skoryna scored his 23rd into an open net with five seconds remaining to take the 3-1 victory.

This Week

The Condors hit the road with a Friday night game in Fresno at 7:30pm and a Sunday night match at 4:00pm. All games, home and away, can be heard live on KGEO AM 1230, with "Condors Countdown" starting 15 prior to face off, with Condors broadcaster Kevin Bartl handling the play-by-play.

The Condors will be back at home on Saturday night to host the Idaho Steelheads at 7:00pm. Saturday's game is the third "Jersey Off Our Backs" Raffle and Auction, this one to benefit CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Kern County. The jerseys were designed from a combination of fan submittals during a contest earlier in the season. In addition to the auction at center ice after the game, five jerseys will be given away to fans in attendance.

Individual tickets can be purchased at the Centennial Garden Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 322-2525, online at ticketmaster.com or stopping by any Ticketmaster location. Season and group tickets may be purchased by calling 324-PUCK (7825) or by visiting the Condors office next to Centennial Garden.

Notes

· The Condors tied the franchise record for wins in a season by picking up their 34th on Sunday. The record was originally set during the 1999-2000 season.

· Paul Willett became the fifth Condor this season to hit the 20-goal plateau with his tally on Tuesday night. Shawn Byram currently has 19 on the season. The franchise record was set in 1996-97, when eight players reached at least 20 goals.

· David Bell's goal on Saturday was his first in 51 games. His other goal this season came on November 8th in Fresno.

· The Condors have just four road games left out of their 11 games remaining. With three of their next four contests away from home, Bakersfield will finish the season with six of their final seven games at Centennial Garden.

· Bakersfield is currently ranked #8 on the national ‘AA' poll on the website www.inthecrease.com.

Quote of the Week

"Everybody's playing well and I just do what I can when I get out there." – Condors rookie Nate Anderson, who scored his 13th goal of the season in Sunday's 3-1 win over Fresno. He is third among all rookies in goals scored this season.

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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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