Lexington Hopes to Rebound in Toledo Friday Night
April 3, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Burlington News Release
Lexington, KY - The Lexington Men O' War will play Game Two of the Northwest Division Semi Finals at the Toledo Sports Arena against the Toledo Storm. Toledo Storm pounded Lexington last night 9-1 in Game One of the best of five series taking a 1-0 lead for the series. Face-off for Game Two is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The Storm started with three goals in the first period including two by Eric Anderson who finished with five points in the game. Toledo's Tim Verbeek also netted a first period tally for Toledo's 3-0 first period lead. The Storm continued to pour it on inn the middle period with goals by Jim Brown and Dale Junkin making it 5-0 after two periods of play. Lexington cut the lead to four with their only tally of the game coming just 2:30 into the final period as Van Burgess scored on the power play. Toledo extended the lead back to five with Toledo's Jeff Mitchell scoring the first of two third period goals. After Mitchell's second goal, Wes Mason made it an 8-1 Toledo lead with his first of the playoffs. Kris Waltze capped of the Toledo win scoring the Storm's ninth of the night with only 2:35 left in the contests. In all, five different Storm players enjoyed multi-point games, while 13 of the 17 players on the ice posted a point. Doug Teskey got the win stopping 32 of 33 Lexington shots. Dan Murphy took the loss, stopping 17 of 22 before being pulled at the 5:58 mark of the second period in favor of Mike Smith. Smith stopped 9 of 13 Storm shots for the reminder of the game.
The loss was the worst by Lexington all season. Dan Murphy was pulled for only the second this season and not since Lexington fell in Charlotte 7-2 on December 14th. Lexington bounced back with a 2-1 win following their worst loss of the season. Toledo scored their highest goal total of the season surpassing their previous total of eight against Wheeling. The Storm lost 5-4 in overtime to Peoria after Toledo' s biggest win of the regular season.
" It's only one game. It was a big game and it puts the momentum in their (Toledo's) favor. They deserve what they got cause they beat us to a pulp. But, it's only one game and what really matters is how we react to this, " said Lexington Head Coach Jim Wiley.
"We have to refocus ourselves and do the things we set out to accomplish in game one. We need a total team effort, solid positioning, and a lot of hard work. Everyone has to be on the same page and we have to work as a unit. We have to outwork them (Toledo) in all aspects of the game," said Lexington forward Mike Sgroi.
The two teams will face-off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night. The games can be heard on XTRA-Sports 1580 AM and at www.sportsjuice.com.
Northwest Division Semi-Finals Round One Playoff Schedule
Game 1 Lexington 1 at Toledo 9 (Toledo Leads Series 1-0)
Friday, April 4th, 7:30 p.m. Game 2 at Toledo
Saturday, April 5th, 7:30 p.m. Game 3 at Toledo
Monday, April 7th, 7:00 p.m. Game 4 at Toledo (If Necessary)
Wednesday, April 9th, 7:00 p.m. Game 5 at Toledo (If Necessary)
ECHL Stories from April 3, 2003
- Rempel tosses monkey off back, lifts IceGators to Game 2 win - Louisiana IceGators
- Generals assume 1-0 lead - Greensboro Generals
- Arkansas Drops Game Two - Arkansas RiverBlades
- Larson Named WCHL Man of the Year - Alaska Aces
- Rug Rats and Cap Giveaway for Regular Season Finale - Bakersfield Condors
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Generals Firm Up Game 5 Date - Greensboro Generals
- Grrrowl to Defend Title at Home - Greenville Grrrowl
- Lexington Hopes to Rebound in Toledo Friday Night - Burlington
- ECHL Southern Conference - ECHL
- ECHL Northern Conference Notebook - ECHL
- Generals Playoff Game Night Notes - Greensboro Generals
- Murphy's Banner Week Capped by Call-up - Fresno Falcons
- Chiefs Kick off Jersey Auction - Johnstown Chiefs
- Game B tickets available tomorrow - Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz
- Head Coach Claude Noel Named Coach of the Year - Toledo Walleye
- Utah Adds Scoring Punch To The Blueline - Utah Grizzlies
- Records Fall in Interesting Lynx Season - Augusta Lynx
- IceGators Game Notes - Louisiana IceGators
- Toledo's Noel Named ECHL Coach of the Year - ECHL
- Dayton's McDonell Becomes 214th ECHL Player In The NHL - ECHL
- Falcons Double Up Steelheads in Playoff Preview - Fresno Falcons
- Bus Trip to Biloxi Friday Night - Pensacola Ice Pilots
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.
