Falcons Outlast Aces, 8-6

January 12, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release


FRESNO, California – B.J. Young and Yvan Corbin scored twice, but Fresno rallied on three separate occasions from one-goal deficits to forge an 8-6 victory over the Anchorage Aces before 5,299 Sunday at Selland Arena.

The Aces opened the scoring at 7:33 of the first period as Corbin tapped in a Kimbi Daniels rebound, but Fresno quickly responded, a pattern that would repeat itself. Cory Murphy converted a Fresno power play at 12:34 to tie the score 1-1. Paul Williams forced a Falcon turnover with Fresno on another power play later in the period, and when he found a cutting Daniels, Anchorage had regained the lead 2-1 heading into intermission.

Fresno oushot Anchorage 31-8 in the second period, and tied the game on a Kevin Haupt drive three minutes into the frame. The Aces (10-25-2) took their last lead less than two minutes later, when Young scored the first of his two goals on another Anchorage power play. The Falcons battled back, as Jason Weaver and Mike Barrie scored 55 seconds apart to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 advantage, one that evaporated when Paul Williams one-timed a Wes Dorey centering pass for a 4-4 tie at 10:51, yet another power play goal for the Aces.

Only 19 seconds later, Fresno grabbed the lead for good, as Ryan Duthie gave his club a 5-4 edge, which became 6-4 at 13:35 thanks to Scott Borders, who had registered a hat trick against Anchorage on Wednesday. Corbin's second power play goal of the game cut the gap to 6-5 less than a minute after the tally by Borders, but Barrie notched his second with 48.9 seconds remaining in the period gave the Falcons their sixth goal of the frame and pushed the margin to 7-5.

Young roofed a shot over Fresno goaltender Mark Gowan to reduce the gap to one goal midway through the third period, and the Aces had an opportunity to pull Ryan Person at the end of the game in a desperate bid for the equalizer. Kirk DeWaele's empty-netter with 11 seconds left polished off the fifth straight win for the Falcons (17-12-4) and sent Anchorage to its fourth straight defeat despite four power play goals and a shortie. The Aces gave up a season-high 52 shots while managing 29 against Gowan.

Anchorage (1-8-1 over its last 10 games) and Fresno will take Monday off before playing for the fourth time in one week Tuesday night at Selland Arena, with the drop of the puck scheduled for 6:00 p.m. AST. All games are broadcast live on KFQD 750 AM and at www.anchorageaces.com or www.kfqd.com, with Jack Michaels calling the play-by-play. Coverage begins 20 minutes prior to the opening face-off, presented by GCI.



ECHL Stories from January 12, 2003


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