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Falcons weekly update

March 20, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Fresno Falcons News Release


March 20, 2006

Contact: Brian Clark

bclark@fresnofalcons.com

LAST WEEK'S RECORD: 2-0-1

OVERALL RECORD: 37-11-13, 87 pts.,

1st Place Pacific Division

March 15 @ Long Beach, 4-3 Shootout Loss - In the first of three games in a row against the second-place Ice Dogs, the Falcons fell behind 3-0 mid-way through the second period before storming back to tie the game on the strength of two goals from J.F. Plourde and a game-tying goal from Luke Curtin. Following a scoreless overtime, Fresno lost in a shootout.

March 17 vs. Long Beach, 5-1 Win - Wearing green jerseys to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, the Falcons bolted to a 4-0 lead and never looked back. Five different players scored and goaltender Jamie Holden made 34 saves in the winning effort.

March 18 vs. Long Beach, 4-3 Overtime Win - A thrilling game in front of a season-high crowd of 10,814, Fresno yet again was forced to battle from behind, trailing 3-1 mid-way through the second. Plourde scored a power play goal late in the period to pull the Falcons within one before Brett Hammond tied the game with a short handed goal at 7:11 of the third. Tied at three into overtime, Matt Deschamps fired a slapshot off the post and in for the game-winner 3:21 into the extra session.

THIS WEEK'S UPCOMING GAMES

Wednesday, March 22 @ Idaho Steelheads, 6 p.m. Pacific* - The first of three in a row against the Steelheads.

Friday, March 24 @ Idaho Steelheads, 6 p.m. Pacific* - The Falcons went 2-1-0 over a three-game set at Idaho in January.

Saturday, March 25 @ Idaho Steelheads, 6 p.m. Pacific* - After this series finale, Fresno finishes the season with 7 of 8 at home.

*Catch all of the live play-by-play action on 1550 Sporting News Radio beginning at 5:45 p.m. Pacific with the FutureTek Pre-game Show. B2 Networks' pay-per-view video webcast begins 10 minutes before the drop of the puck via www.fresnofalcons.com.

NOTES

. Luke Curtin extended his team season-high point streak to 16 consecutive games (5g-21a) on Saturday, tying the Falcons' all-time team record first set in 1996-97 by Kelly Hultgren. Fresno's leading scorer reached a new career high for points last week, besting the 78 he racked up in 2003-04 with the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies. He begins the week tied for the league overall scoring lead with 81 points (21g-60a).

. Curtin is not the only Falcon having a career year. Fraser Clair, Kelsey Muench, J.F. Plourde, Dustin VanBallegooie, and John Wroblewski have all set new personal bests for most points in a season, and Rob McFeeters has tied his career high.

. J.F. Plourde broke out of a tie with Shawn Mather for the team power play goal lead on Saturday with his 14th of the season. Plourde leads the club with 28 goals overall this year.

. Brett Hammond scored short handed goals in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, the first two shorties of his career. The Falcons now have 10 short handed tallies as a team this season.

. The Falcons are still unbeaten against the Pacific Division this season at 20-0-6. No team in ECHL history has ever gone an entire season without a single regulation loss to a division opponent.

. The club begins the week with a 12-point lead atop the Pacific ahead of the second-place Ice Dogs. The Falcons' magic number to clinch the first division title of their 11-year professional history stands at seven points.

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