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IceCats Defeat Moose 7-6

November 2, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester IceCats News Release


WORCESTER, MA--The Worcester IceCats bounced back from a Friday night loss to Manchester with a 7-6 victory over the Manitoba Moose Saturday evening at Worcester's Centrum Centre. John Pohl and Sergei Varlamov each scored two goals, but the biggest of the night came off the stick of Jeff Panzer with only 75 seconds remaining in regulation.

The IceCats took a 3-2 lead into the first intermission on goals by Pohl and Varlamov. Pohl's equalizer at 3:01 knotted the score at 1-1 and Varlamov's pair of power play markers at 14:33 and 16:53, respectively, gave the 'Cats the one-goal advantage after 20 minutes of hockey.

Worcester jumped to a two-goal lead at 12:17 of the second period when Steve Bancroft found the back of the Manitoba net. It was the veteran defenseman's first as a 'Cat. Justin Papineau made sure Worcester ended the period on top, taking advantage of a power play and giving the 'Cats a 5-3 edge.

Manitoba defenseman Nolan Baumgartner led a third period comeback for the Moose, who, with the help of two goals from Ryan Ready, tied the score at 6-6 with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. The 'Cats pressured Manitoba goaltender Alex Auld, allowing Worcester forward Panzer to slip the puck past the netminder with 1:15 left on the clock to give the 'Cats the 7-6 victory. Mark Rycroft set the table for Panzer's heroics with a feed from behind the cage.

Terry Virtue, Papineau and Rycroft each registered two assists. For Rycroft, the helpers extended his point-scoring streak to six games. Panzer's goal improved his point-scoring streak to five games. In all, six players registered multiple points to lead the 'Cats to their fourth win of the season.

"We knew there were some things we had to work on after (Friday) night's game," said Panzer, who was named the game's number one star. "We're really coming together as a team, though, and the bounces really were going our way (Saturday night). We're just going to try and continue to improve every game. After all, that's what the season's about."

Phil Osaer was in the Worcester net and stopped 19 of 25 shots, while Auld turned aside 31 of 37.

The 'Cats finish their three-in-three homestand on Sunday afternoon with a 4:05 PM faceoff with the St. John's Maple Leafs.

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