Falcons Slip Past RoadRunners 4-3

March 24, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


PHOENIX, Ariz. - Jason Tejchma tallied a pair of goals and the Fresno Falcons erased a 3-1 deficit in the second period with three straight power play goals to defeat the Phoenix RoadRunners 4-3 before a crowd of 6,304 at US Airways Center in ECHL action Saturday.

The RoadRunners and Falcons each traded goals in the first period. Phoenix (25-35-5) opened the scoring at 12:40 on the power play as Brian Yandle buried the loose puck from the right-wing circle behind Fresno goalie Scott Stirling to give the RoadRunners a 1-0 lead. Fresno (34-24-8) evened things up when Brady Leisenring snapped a shot over the glove of goalie Cody Rudkowsky at 17:21 on the power play to tie the game at 1-1.

Phoenix jumped out of the gate in the second period with two quick goals. Lance Monych banged home his own rebound off the side of the cage through Stirling at 2:12 giving the RoadRunners a 2-1 lead. Chanse Fitzpatrick made it 3-1 when Olivier Latendresse found him wide open in the slot off a Fresno turnover, and Fitzpatrick snapped the puck behind Stirling at 6:43. The Falcons stormed back with three unanswered goals to take the lead going into the second intermission. Tejchma cut the deficit to 3-2 when he tipped Brian McConnell's centering pass by Rudkowsky at 9:15 on the power play. Tejchma scored his second straight power play goal at 14:26 beating Rudkowsky over the left shoulder. Rob McFeeters capped the scoring for the period slipping the puck through Rudkowsky's pads from the left-wing circle at 17:22, also on the power play.

Despite out-shooting the Falcons 10-7 in the third period, the RoadRunners could not tally the equalizer.

Phoenix out-shot Fresno 36-29. Rudkowsky stopped 25 shots but took the loss to fall to 8-18-2 on the season. The RoadRunners went 1-8 on the power play while Fresno was 4-8 with the man-advantage.

Notes: Brad Church made his head coaching debut. Church replaced Ron Filion who resigned Thursday...Yandle tallied his first goal since Nov. 19 against Long Beach...The RoadRunners allowed four power play goals for the fourth time this season...Phoenix closed out the home portion of their regular season schedule with a record of 15-19-2...Center Tyler Redenbach and defenseman Clayton Barthel became the 41st and 42nd players to don a RoadRunners' sweater Saturday. In comparison, Phoenix used 39 players during its inaugural 2005-06 season.

Phoenix opens a season-ending, season-long seven-game road trip at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday at Bakersfield. Catch all the action live on www.phxroadrunners.com beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" at 6:45 p.m.

Information on season tickets, half-season packages, and flex plans for the 2007-08 season of Phoenix RoadRunners Hockey are available by calling (602) 462-GOAL.



ECHL Stories from March 24, 2007


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