Sports stats

Impressive Comeback Enable Falcons to Avoid Sweep

February 3, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Fresno Falcons News Release


The Fresno Falcons hosted the Long Beach Ice Dogs last week and required their league-leading seventh third period comeback to avoid suffering a three-game sweep.

Injuries continue to plague Fresno as they were forced to use at least one emergency player during each of the three games just to reach the league minimum of 13 skaters. On Tuesday night former Falcons Greg Spenrath and Mark Kuntz filled in as emergency players as the team lost a close contest, 2-1. A lackluster second period cost Fresno a 4-1 loss on Friday as Spenrath played his third game in a row, setting the stage for a Saturday night must-win if the Falcons were to avoid the sweep.

Former Falcons defenseman Kory Mullin filled in on Saturday as Fresno gave up goals with 16 seconds remaining in the first and 26 seconds into the second to fall behind, 3-0. Goaltender Mark Gowan relieved Terry Friesen at that stage and goals by Glen Gulutzan and Kris Porter narrowed the Long Beach lead to 3-2 heading to the third. Cory Murphy scored his eighth goal of the season early in the final frame, which tied him for the league-lead in goal scoring among defensemen, before Porter notched his second of the night and 20th of the year at 12:58 for the game-winner. Gowan captured his 10th victory of the season by stopping all 17 shots he faced and extended his personal winning streak to eight games in a row.

By salvaging one game of the three, the Falcons moved their record to 23-15-5 with 51 points.

CHANCE TO MAKE MOVE IN THE STANDINGS

For the first time in 12 games the Falcons will play a team with true head-to-head standings significance on the line. Their 51 points are just three fewer than the second-place San Diego Gulls and Bakersfield Condors, and they host the Gulls in a pair of games this Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. The long-time rivals have not met since San Diego walloped Fresno on Dec. 14, 7-4, at the San Diego Sports Arena. Tuesday's game is a Carl's Jr. Two-for-Tuesday, with two-for-one coupons available at area Carl's Jr. Restaurants, while Wednesday's is Ladies Night, featuring free World's Finest Chocolate Candy Bars to the first 2,000 fans.

Fresno then completes a six-game home stand on Friday when the Anchorage Aces arrive at Selland Arena for a 7:30 p.m. start. The first 1,500 fans that evening will receive a Falcons baseball cap. Finally, the Falcons will travel to San Diego after the game Friday for their third tilt of the week against the Gulls on Saturday.

RADIO BROADCASTS BACK ONLINE

After a brief time off the web, all Falcons radio broadcasts have returned to the team's website at www.fresnofalcons.com. Fans can access the live play-by-play feed directly off the website's home page or listen to archived games through the "Game Summaries" link. Of course every broadcast can also be heard live on the radio home for the Falcons, 103.1 FM, The Mountain Cat.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE

The Falcons will practice tomorrow and Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Selland Arena. Practice is tentatively scheduled for 11:15 a.m. on Thursday at Gateway Ice Center before the club returns to Selland at 10 a.m. on Friday.



ECHL Stories from February 3, 2003


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Fresno Falcons Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central