ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Finish Off Elmira, 2-0 -- Head To Conference Finals

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


ELMIRA, New York - Ryan Nie stopped 24 shots in collecting his first playoff shutout as a Cyclone, in a 2-0 win at Elmira. The Cyclones got goals from Dustin Sproat and Kyle Rank to secure the four game sweep for the North Division playoff title. Cincinnati also claimed the North Division regular season title as well. It is the second straight year that the club has won both honors.

Cincinnati will play either Florida or South Carolina for the American Conference championship next week. The South Carolina Stingrays holds a two games to one edge in the best of seven affair for the South Division title. Cincinnati knocked off the Stingrays in five games a year ago for the conference crown.

The Cyclones scored the only goal of the first period with 24.7 seconds remaining in the stanza. Dustin Sproat snapped off a shot from the bottom of the left circle for his seventh score of the playoffs. Gerard Miller and Jimmy Kilpatrick handed out the assists on the score. The physical nature that the Jackals are noted for was evident as Cincinnati had three power play chances to Elmira's one. The shots on goal favored the Cyclones, 12-7, in the opening 20 minutes.

A scoreless second period kept the score at 1-0. Each team had scoring chances, but goaltender Ryan Nie for Cincinnati and Michael Teslak for Elmira kept the scoring chances from being converted. The shots again favored the Cyclones, 9-7.

Cincinnati extended the lead to 2-0 when Kyle Rank intercepted a pass deep in the Elmira end and turned it into a breakaway that resulted in his second playoff goal. The shots on goal in the third period favored Cincinnati, 12-10, and for the game the Cyclones held the upper hand, 33-24.

The Cyclones will play either Florida or South Carolina for the American Conference championship next week. The schedule will be released as soon as it is available. The Cyclones will host game three of the series on Wednesday, May 13 at U.S. Bank Arena. The fourth game of the conference championship will be on Friday, May 15 in Cincinnati and if a fifth game is needed, it would also happen at U.S. Bank Arena on Saturday, May 16. All these games would 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 $77!

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