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ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Advance To Playoffs With 4-3 Win!

April 1, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


CINCINNATI, Ohio - For the third straight year, a Cincinnati professional sports team secured a playoff berth at U.S. Bank Arena on Wednesday night.

No, this is not a bad April Fool's joke.

The Cincinnati Cyclones rallied for their 14th come-from-behind win versus Johnstown, a 4-3 verdict. The triumph moved the club into a three-way tie for the North Division lead with just two games remaining on the schedule. By tie-breaking criteria, Cincinnati would be the top seed if the playoffs began today. Cincinnati is 13 games above .500 for the first time this season (39-26-5).

Johnstown opened a 2-1 lead in the first period. The Chiefs opened the scoring 8:47 in when Blair Yaworski scored an unassisted goal after Cyclones goaltender Loic Lacasse tried to poke check a puck off the stick of Todd Griffith in the high slot. Yaworski intercepted the puck at the blueline and fired it into the empty net. Cincinnati leveled the scores at 11:12 when Dustin Sproat re-directed a pass from Adam Krug for his 15th score of the season. Krug carried the puck up the left wing side and threw it to the top of the goal crease where Sproat was able to tip it past Kris Mayotte for a power play score. Lacasse had the second assist on the score. Randy Rowe added his twelfth goal on the power play at 13:01 to give the Chiefs the 2-1 edge at the intermission. Cincinnati outshot Johnstown, 12-7, in the first frame.

Cincinnati scored a pair of goals in the second period to grab a 3-2 lead. Frederic St. Denis' first ECHL goal knotted the scores at 8:55. St. Denis ripped a shot from the right point that was screened by forward Mac Faulkner for the score. Sproat and Justin Johnson had the assists. Cincinnati grabbed the lead at 12:42 when Mark Van Guilder collected his 23rd lamplighter of the season, scoring from the bottom of the left circle. Matt Syroczynski and T.J. McElroy had the assists on the goal. The shots on goal again favored the Cyclones, 11-7, in the period.

The Cyclones got the game winning goal in the third period from Matt Syroczynski on the power play, re-directing a pass from Barret Ehgoetz out of the right corner. It was Syroczynski's 24th goal of the year with Van Guilder getting the other assist. Johnstown got a power play goal from Michael Bartlett at 13:46 to close to within 4-3. The last 45 seconds were played with the Chiefs on the power play and Mayotte on the bench to create a six-on-four power play. The shots in the third period favored Johnstown, 8-4. For the game, Cincinnati won the shots battle, 27-22.

Loic Lacasse won his eleventh game of the year, turning aside 19 shots. Kris Mayotte dropped his twelfth game of the campaign (and fourth to Cincinnati), stopping 23 shots in the process.

Cincinnati, Elmira and Trenton are all tied with 83 points in the standings. Wheeling is fourth with 80 points and Johnstown sits fifth with 78 points. The top four teams advance to the Kelly Cup playoffs from the division. It is the closest divisional race in the 21 year history of the ECHL.

The Cyclones are now 39-26-5 on the season, while Johnstown is 37-29-4. The Cyclones host the Chiefs again on Friday (April 3) and Saturday (April 4) at U.S. Bank Arena. The final two games of the regular season will each start at 7:30pm.

Tickets for the 2009-10 Cincinnati Cyclones season are now on sale. The Cyclones Sales Department can be reached at 513-421-PUCK, extension 3. For the latest news, notes and information on the team, visit: www.cycloneshockey.com . Ask about the Family Four Pack (four tickets, four hot dogs, four Pepsis, four Cyclones winter hats, four public skate passes at SportsPlus and a SportsPlus game card) for just $69!

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