Gulls Pound Aces, 7-1
December 22, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
ANCHORAGE, Alaska â Mike McGhan scored twice and assisted on two others as San Diego broke open a close game with a four-goal second period in a decisive 7-1 rout of Anchorage Saturday night in front of 2,630 at Sullivan Arena.
The two teams played an excellent first period, with quality scoring chances for both sides. R.J. Enga scored the only goal of the opening period at 14:27. Dean Tiltgen redirected a shot from Kevin Grant only 2:20 into the middle frame to extend the lead to 2-0, but when Dan Cousineau drew a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a knee-to-knee hit on J.J. Wrobel, Anchorage had a terrific chance to get back into the game.
Instead, the Gulls surged ahead 3-0 when Cory Cyrenne stole the puck from Don Martin and buried the ensuing breakaway at the 7:28 mark. The competitive phase of the contest ended when McGhan and David Neale, who registered his first professional goal, scored three minutes apart in the closing stages of the second period. Sylvain Deschatalets gave San Diego (15-10-1) a 6-0 spread when he tallied on the power play at 3:09 of the final period.
The Aces scored their first goal of the series after being shut out for 105:40 when Jason Modopoulos fed Eric Landry to make it 6-1, but McGhan's second of the night with 7:27 remaining pushed the final margin back to six. San Diego goaltender Trevor Koenig finished with 25 saves as his club finished with a 36-26 edge in shots on goal.
Anchorage (9-19-1) will practice Monday and Thursday of next week from 10:00 a.m.-noon at Sullivan Arena. The club's offices will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday in recognition of the upcoming Christmas holiday. The Aces play host to the first-place Idaho Steelheads in a three-game series that begins Friday, December 27, at 7:00 p.m., and continues Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday at 5:00 p.m. The Steelheads (20-6-3 overall) have defeated in Anchorage in all eight prior meetings this season, including three at Sullivan Arena October 25-27.
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.
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