ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Drop 2-1 Shootout Verdict to Wheeling

Published on February 20, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


CINCINNATI - The Cincinnati Cyclones dropped a 2-1 shootout decision to the Wheeling Nailers on Saturday night at U.S. Bank Arena. The fourth-largest crowd of the season (7175) was on hand for the Pink In The Rink promotion. Despite the extra session defeat-the Cyclones extended their unbeaten streak in regulation time to 8-0-2 in the month of February.

Wearing pink jerseys that were auctioned off for the Patty Brisben Foundation, the Cyclones and Nailers would put on a defensive struggle through the evening.

Wheeling opened the scoring 7:00 into the first period when Andrew Lord tallied his twelfth goal of the year from Billy Ryan. The Cyclones would bounce back with one of their own at 17:43. Mark Voakes snapped off a shot from the high slot area for his eighth score of the campaign with Jimmy Kilpatrick and Dustin Sproat handing out the assists. The shots favored Cincinnati, 7-2, in the period. The Cyclones had two power play chances to Wheeling's one.

There was no scoring in the second period, but the Nailers had the best chance of the term when a shot clanged off the crossbar behind Cyclones goaltender Jeremy Smith. Wheeling's defense in the first 14 minutes was solid, not allowing the Cyclones a single shot on goal. However, the club more than made up for the lost time-being outshot just 11-10 in the period.

There was no scoring in the third period, as Cincinnati outshot the Nailers, 10-4.

In the overtime, there was no scoring, but Wheeling had the opportunities-shooting six shots on goal to the Cyclones two. For the game, Cincinnati outshot the Nailers, 29-24. The Cyclones were zero for five on the power play while Wheeling was zero for three.

In the shootout, Wheeling scored three times on four shots from Joey Haddad, Thomas Beauregard and Billy Ryan. Cincinnati got scores from Dustin Sproat and Voakes.

Adam Berkhoel made 28 saves on the Cyclones, to defeat the club for the first time in the regular season since April 5, 2007. Rookie Jeremy Smith stopped 21 shots in the shootout loss, dropping his record to 17-10-2 on the year.

The crowd of 7175 pushed the Cyclones season attendance to 104,604-an average of 3607 per game. It was the seventh largest crowd in team history and eighth time this season that Cincinnati has attracted in excess of 5000 for a game. The Cyclones sit 16th in the ECHL in attendance, 25.9 percent ahead of last season's pace through 29 home games. Cincinnati, which has finished first or second in attendance percentage improvement in each of the prior two seasons, has attracted more fans than it had through 35 games in 2008-09 (through April 3, 2009).

Cincinnati is 35-17-3, while Wheeling is 27-24-4. This was the third game of a five game homestand that will run through February 27. The Cyclones host Wheeling Wednesday (Feb. 24), which is another ‘Wet Wednesday'. The game next Friday (Feb. 26) against Charlotte is ‘Twister Goalie Bobblehead' and the final game before the club departs for a six game road trip that will keep the squad away from U.S. Bank Arena until Thursday, March 18.

Cincinnati leads the North Division with 73 points. Kalamazoo is second with 61, while Toledo is third at 60 and Wheeling rounds out the division with 58 points. The Cyclones have led the North Division for 46 days this season and for 307 days over the past three-plus seasons.

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. Selected Friday night games are carried on 1530-AM Homer, while all 72 regular season games can be heard on the club's website at: www.cycloneshockey.com. The next game on 1530 Homer will come next Friday (February 26), when the Cyclones host Charlotte at 7:30pm.

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