Florence Pride Weekly

January 19, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz News Release


LAST WEEK: The Pride went 1-2-0 last week, winning at Greensboro and dropping home games to Columbus and Columbia. Florence enters this week's All-Star Break with a record of 14-19-5 for 33 points. The Pride are in seventh place in the Southern Division, trailing South Carolina for the final playoff spot by 11 points.

Wednesday, January 14 @ Greensboro PRIDE 6 Generals 3

Florence extended its winning streak to four games with a three-goal win over Greensboro. The Generals got off to a 2-0 lead in the first 13:10 of the contest before the Pride erupted. A pair of goals by Kyle Kidney and a single tally from Mark McRae in the final 6:14 of the first period gave the Pride the lead. Luke Earl added to the advantage with his third of the season 10:30 into the second. The Generals pulled within one 7:11 into the third on a power-play marker by Mike Bayrack, but the Pride got the goal right back 1:44 later, as Eric Naud scored in his first game back with the Pride. Wes Goldie set the final with his 19th of the season at 13:09.

Friday, January 16 v. Columbus Cottonmouths 4 PRIDE 3

The Cottonmouths took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission on goals by Colin Pepperall and Christian Larrivee (PPG). Luke Earl pulled the Pride within one at 7:52 mark of the second period, but the Cottonmouths reestablished the two-goal advantage a little under five minutes later. In the third, Jeff Szwez once again made it a one-goal game at the 10:40 mark of the second, but once again Columbus answered right back at 13:26. Wes Goldie would make it 4-3 with 2:52 to go, but the Pride could not get the equalizer, despite some late pressure on Columbus goaltender Matus Kostur.

Saturday, January 17 v. Columbia Inferno 7 PRIDE 4

Trailing 5-2 late in the second period, the Pride made a game of it. Goals by Wes Goldie and Jeff Szwez 2:02 apart brought Florence within one heading into the third period. However, the Pride could not sustain that momentum in the final period, and goals by Robin Carruthers and Derek Eastman less than two minutes apart at the midway mark of the period set the final. Szwez had two goals in the loss, while Goldie had an assist to go along with his team-leading 21st goal of the season.

THIS WEEKS' GAMES

Friday, January 23 @ Columbus 7:30 p.m. Coverage on WDAR Sunny 105.5 at 7:10

Florence travels to Columbus for the first time this season. The Cottonmouths have won both prior meetings at the Lion's Den this year. Columbus remains the hottest team in the ECHL, winning three straight and going 8-1-1 in the last 10. Over their last 20 games, the Cottonmouths have posted a 16-3-1 record to move into fourth place in the Central Division.

Saturday, January 24 @ Columbia 2:00 p.m. Coverage on WDAR Sunny 105.5 at 1:40

The Pride and Inferno meet in a special Saturday afternoon matinee. Florence is 1-3-1 against Columbia this season, and is 0-2-0 at Columbia. The Inferno are in first place in the Southern Division with a 25-12-4 record for 54 points.

PRIDE IN THE COMMUNITY

Tuesday, January 20

Ryan Knox and Allan Sirois will be at McLeod Children's Hospital at 2:30 p.m. The players will be visiting with patients and signing autographs.

PRIDE NOTES

- Starting with this weekend's games, the Pride will play 12 of their next 14 games on the road. Florence has won two straight games on the road, and for the season is 5-9-1 away from home.

- Captain Wes Goldie continued his hot streak last week. Goldie scored one goal in each of the three games, and extended his point streak to six games, over which he has five goals and five assists. Goldie leads the team, and is sixth in the ECHL, with 21 goals on the season. All 21 of his goals have come in the last 23 games.

- Jeff Szwez has a five-game point streak entering this week's action. Szwez has six goals and two assists during the streak.

- The Pride scored two power-play goals on Saturday, marking the first time since December 14 (14 games) that the team scored more than one power-play goal in a game.

PRIDE LEADERS

Goals Goldie 21
Assists Sirois 26
Points Sirois 32
+/- Baker +3
Penalty Minutes Torney 86
Shots Goldie 108
Power Play Goals Goldie 8
Shorthanded Goals Goldie 3
Game-Winning Goals Goldie 4

PRIDE ON THE AIR

All Pride away games can be heard on WDAR Sunny 105.5 FM and on-line at www.florencepride.com with the Voice of the Pride, Joe Babik. Each broadcast begins 20 minutes prior to faceoff with the Palmetto Chiropractic Pre-Game Show.

PRIDE TICKETS

Tickets for all Pride home games can be purchased at the Florence Civic Center Box Office (10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday; through the second period on game nights), all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at (843) 679-9333 or on-line at www.ticketmaster.com. The Pride also have group tickets available for all remaining home games. For more information, contact Director of Ticket Operations Neil Broome at (843) 669-7825.

YARD SIGNS

The Pride would like to thank all of their fans who have been placing their yard signs on game days. If you do not have a yard sign, they are available at the Pride office from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Pride's next home games is Saturday, January 31 against the Greenville Grrrowl.

ECHL ALL-STAR GAME BROADCAST

Pride fans have two different opportunities to catch the 2004 ECHL/Par-a-Dice Casino All-Star Game, which includes Pride defenseman Mark McRae. The game takes place on Wednesday, January 21 at Carver Arena in Peoria, Illinois. The audio broadcast, which includes the Voice of the Pride Joe Babik, will be available through Yahoo! Broadcast at www.broadcast.com. The broadcast starts at 8:15 EST and the game starts at 8:30. The television broadcast is available as part of the NHL Center Ice Package, and will start at 8:30.



ECHL Stories from January 19, 2004


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