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November 24, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Roanoke Express News Release


ROANOKE, VA – The Roanoke Express earned four of a possible six points this past week with a 2-1-0 record. The Express also extended its home winning streak to six straight games. The Express enters this week with a record of 10-6-0, (20 pts., 4th place in Southern Division).

LAST WEEK'S ACTION

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2003 vs. LAS VEGAS 4-2 Win

The Express played its first ever, and only game against the Las Vegas Wranglers on Wednesday night at the Roanoke Civic Center, and came away with a 4-2 victory. The win pushed Roanoke's home winning streak to six straight games.

The Express weathered early pressure by the Wranglers to open the scoring at 5:40 of the first period on Rick Kowalsky's eighth goal of the season. The Express gained a two-goal lead at 15:22 of the opening period and on power play goal by Shawn Limpright.

Tim O'Connell gave the Express a 3-0 lead just 2:06 into the second period, before the Wranglers began their comeback. Las Vegas got on the scoreboard at 4:40 of the second period and then climbed to within one of the Express with their second goal at 12:18 of the third period. The Wranglers threw everything they could at the Roanoke net but couldn't get the tying goal past Express goal tender Jason Wolfe. The Express sealed the win with an empty net goal by Jeremy Kyte with seven seconds remaining.

Wolfe started in his first game since Oct. 28, and played tremendously, saving 48 of 50 Las Vegas shots. The win brought his record to 2-2-0.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2003 at GREENSBORO 8-6 Loss

The Express made its first trip to Greensboro to take on the Generals on Friday night and lost a high-scoring affair 8-6. With the loss the Express fell to 1-1-0 on the season against Greensboro, and in the two games between the teams, they have combined for 24 goals.

The wild back-and-forth game saw each team surrender a lead. Roanoke opened the scoring on a power play goal by Duncan Dalmao at 4:33 of the first period. The Generals tied the game four and a half minutes later, and then took their first lead with less than three minutes remaining in the first period. Trailing 2-1 after the first period, Roanoke battled back to score twice in the first seven and a half minutes of the second period. David Silverstone scored his first goal of the season at 1:11 of the second to tie the game, and Andrew McPherson added his third goal of the year at 7:33 to give the Express a 3-2 lead. The lead evaporated as the Generals scored two goals in a 29 second span with seven minutes remaining in the middle period to re-take the lead. Greensboro opened a 5-3 lead with another late goal with 2;10 left in the period. The Express was able to cut the Generals lead to one when Rick Kowalsky picked up his ninth goal of the year with just 23 seconds left in the period.

Greensboro stopped any momentum by the Express by lighting the lamp twice in the first two minutes of the third period to open a 7-4 advantage. The Generals increased the lead to –8-5 at 6:25 of the third. Roanoke gained two goals back when Shawn Limpright tallied a power play goal at 15:09 of the third, and Silverstone added his second of the game with just 39 seconds left in the contest.

Jason Wolfe started in goal for the Express and faced 52 Greensboro shots in taking the loss, knocking his record down to 2-3-0.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2003 at DAYTON 3-2 Win

The Express and the Bombers played the first of four games between each other on Sunday afternoon at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, OH. Roanoke came away with a 3-2 victory in the first of two games to be played in Dayton between the teams.

The Bombers opened the scoring at 10:50 of the first period, but the Express battled back to tally a late first period goal by Shawn Limpright at 18:35, when he jammed home a rebound off a Dan Carney shot. With the teams tied at one going into the second period Dayton reclaimed the lead at 15:37 of the second. Roanoke tied the game back up when Blair Stayzer collected his third goal of the season with two minutes left in the period. The Express wasn't finished in the second period however. Dan Carlson dug the puck out of a goal-mouth scrum, and buried it into the open net with 50 seconds remaining in the middle stanza to give the Express a 3-2 lead.

The Express fought off a hard-charging Bombers squad in the third period to hold onto the lead, and give Roanoke the win.

David Belitski returned to the net for the Express and turned away 27 of 29 Dayton shots to pick up the win, and raise his record to 7-3-0 on the season.

UPCOMING GAMES

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2003 vs. GREENVILLE 7:00 p.m.

Roanoke takes on the Greenville Grrrowl for the second time this season, and the first at the Roanoke Civic Center on Thanksgiving. The Express collected a 4-1 win in the first meeting of the season between the clubs on Oct. 31 at the BI-LO Center in Greenville. Overall this is the second of six meetings on the season between the two Southern Division rivals. The Grrrowl enter this week with a 2-10-2 record (6 pts., 8th Southern Division). The Express is 4-0-1 all-time vs. Greenville.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2003 vs. FLORIDA 7:30 p.m.

The Express plays the first of four games against new division rival Florida on Friday night. The game is the first of two that will be played at the Roanoke Civic Center. Last season, the Express and the Everblades did not skate against each other. The Everblades begin this week's action with a record of 10-3-3 (23 pts., 1st Southern Division). Roanoke is 1-2-0 all-time vs. Florida.

Friday night the Roanoke Express and the United States Marine Corps bring back the "Toys for Tots Teddy Bear Toss." After the Express score their first goal against the Florida Everblades we encourage fans to throw a new Teddy Bear out onto the ice. These bears will then be given to less fortunate children, hopefully making this a Christmas to remember for them. Every donation helps, so please come out and enjoy a exciting game of hockey while giving those less fortunate a great holiday season.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2003 at South Carolina 7:30 p.m.

The Express makes its first visit to North Charleston on Saturday night to take on the South Carolina Stingrays. The first meeting of the season between the Southern Division rivals resulted in a 3-1 Roanoke win on Nov. 16 at the Roanoke Civic Center. Saturday will be the second of five games on the year between the clubs, and the first of three at the North Charleston Coliseum. South Carolina begins the week with a record of 7-7-1 (15 pts., 5th Southern Division). The Express is 18-13-4 all-time vs. the Stingrays.

NEWS & NOTES

STREAKING!: The Express has won nine of its last 11 games, and has outscored its opponents

43-29 in that span.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Entering this week, the Express is 7th on the power play (21.1%) and is 16th on the penalty kill (82.7%).

HOME SWEET HOME: After beginning the season losing its first two home games, the Express has won six straight games at the Roanoke Civic Center. The streak began on Nov. 1 with a win against Greensboro. Since then, the Express has added wins against Charlotte, Augusta, Columbia, South Carolina and Las Vegas.

FAST START: The Express has scored the first goal of the game in 10 of its last 12 games. In those 12 games, the Express is 9-3-0. Oddly enough, the Express began the season allowing the first goal of the game in its first four contests. Overall this year when the Express scores first in a game they are 7-3-0.

ENOUGH RUBBER TO MAKE 4 TIRES: Express goaltender Jason Wolfe has faced an incredible 177 shots in his last four starts. That's an average of 44.2 shots per start for Wolfe in that span, and overall this season, he has seen an average of 43.1 shots per game.

CHALK-UP ANOTHER MILESTONE: Express F Dan Carney has reached another milestone in his career. On Sunday afternoon at Dayton, the 9th-year pro collected his 200th career point with an assist on Roanoke's first goal of the game vs. the Bombers. Earlier this season, the native of Brooklyn, NY played in his 500th career game on Nov. 7 vs. Augusta.

MILESTONES: Several other milestones are within grasp by Express players; F Joe Dusbabek is 5 games shy of his 200th pro game played in...F Dan Carlson needs 43 games to reach 200...D Duncan Dalmao needs one goal to tally his 50th career goal.

WHO'S HOT: D Duncan Dalmao has five points the last two games (1 G, 4 A)...C Dan Carney has picked up a point in three straight games (0 G, 4 A)...LW David Silverstone has collected a point in three of the last four games (2 G, 2 A)...LW Shawn Limpright has scored a point in three straight games (3 G, 3 A)...C Dan Carlson has a point in eight of the last nine games (4 G, 7 A)...RW Rick Kowalsky has collected a point in seven of the last eight games (7 G, 7 A)...G David Belitski has won seven of his last eight starts (2.13 GAA, .937 SV %).

TEAM & LEAGUE LEADERS: After 13 games, Dan Carlson leads the Express with 17 points

(6 G, 11 A), which also ranks him 12th in the ECHL in total points. Rick Kowalsky is now second on the team in scoring with 15 points (7 G, 8 A), and Shawn Limpright is third on the team with 14 points. Defenseman Tim O'Connell leads the team with 59 shots, and is third overall in the ECHL in that department.

UPCOMING PRACTICE AND GAME SCHEDULE

Monday, November 24 OFF

Tuesday, November 25 10:00 a.m. practice @ The Roanoke Civic Center

Wednesday, November 26 10:00 a.m. practice @ The Roanoke Civic Center

Thursday, November 27 10:00 a.m. pre-game skate @ The Roanoke Civic Center

7:00 p.m. GAME vs. Greenville @ The Roanoke Civic Center

Friday, November 28 10:00 a.m. pre-game skate @ The Roanoke Civic Center

7:30 p.m. GAME vs. Florida @ The Roanoke Civic Center

Saturday, November 29 7:30 p.m. GAME vs. South Carolina @ The N. Charleston Colisum

Sunday, November 30 OFF

(All practice times and locations are subject to change)

ALL EXPRESS GAMES ARE BROADCAST LIVE ON THE 3WR RADIO NETWORK, 910 AM IN ROANOKE AND 990 AM IN BLACKSBURG. ALL GAMES ARE LIVE ON THE INTERNET AT www.wcqv.com



ECHL Stories from November 24, 2003


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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