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Gems Fall to Komets 6-3 in Fort Wayne on Friday Night

March 23, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Dayton Gems News Release


Fort Wayne, Indiana - The Dayton Gems would begin their final weekend of the 2011-2012 season against the Fort Wayne Komets, suffering a hard fought 6-3 loss inside the War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Scoring for the Gems was Jon Ornelas (2) and Greg Labenski.

The Fort Wayne Komets' Mike Vaskivuo had a big offensive game, scoring one goal and contributing three assists in his team's 6-3 win over the Gems.

Vaskivuo scored 10:09 into the first period to make the score 2-1 Fort Wayne. Chris Auger assisted on the tally. Vaskivuo dished an assist on Colin Chaulk's goal that made the score 1-0 Fort Wayne at 4:26 into the first period. He then added assists on Brett Smith's goal at 9:06 into the second and on Chaulk's goal at 17:00 into the second.

Dayton's power play was ineffective against Fort Wayne's penalty kill, which allowed one goal while shorthanded.

The Komets racked up the penalties in the contest, and ended with eight minors and one major for 21 minutes in penalty time. Fort Wayne had been averaging 19.0 minutes in penalties per game. The Komets bested their season scoring average. Fort Wayne has scored at the pace of 3.4 goals per game during the current campaign. The 47 shots that the Komets put on net surpassed Fort Wayne's average of 33.6 shots per game this season.

Fort Wayne also got a goal from Tyler Miller as well. In addition, Fort Wayne received assists from Frankie DeAngelis, Stephon Thorne, Brent Henley, Leo Thomas, Jamie Milam, and Kaleigh Schrock, who each chipped in one.

The Gems' penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on four Fort Wayne power plays. Dayton's offense was helped by the efforts of its defensemen, who managed to put 14 shots on net during the game.

The Gems were led by Jonathan Ornelas, who grabbed two goals and one assist. Ornelas scored the first of his two goals at 7:18 into the first period to make the score 1-1. Greg Labenski provided the assist. Ornelas' next tally made the score 6-3 Fort Wayne with 16:31 left in the third period. Nick Fanto assisted on the tally. More assists for Dayton came via Kyle Bochek and Matt Baxter, who contributed one a piece.

The Komets' Nick Boucher stopped 23 shots out of the 26 that he faced. Larry Sterling took the loss and made 27 saves before being replaced by Dan Dunn who made 14 saves. Dayton ended with 25 minutes in penalty time with five minors and one major.

With the loss, the Gems record slips to 23-28-13 while both clubs continue their three-in-three series in Dayton on Saturday night on Cassano's Italian Ice inside Hara Arena.

Saturday night's game will be the final home game for the Gems 2011-2012 season, and is known as "pack the house night". A special fundraiser will donate $1 from every ticket sold to a local family in need, while the Gems will donate an extra $2,000 if the game is sold out. Additionally, the first 1,000 kids 12-under will get a limited edition "retro" youth jersey presented by Greater Dayton RTA and there will be a live postgame "red" jersey auction in the Hara lobby.

Tickets are still available, but are going fast. Call 275-7777 or visit www.DaytonGems.com to purchase advance tickets as low as $8!

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