Loggerheads Edged by Slammers
November 24, 2003 - World Hockey Association-2 (WHA2)
Lakeland Loggerheads News Release
LAKELAND, Fla. â The Lakeland Loggerheads were edged by the Alabama Slammers Sunday night at The Lakeland Center in front of an enthusiastic crowd of nearly 1,500 fans.
Former Loggerhead, now Slammer, Paul Vincent scored on the power play at 15:54 of the third period to break a four-all tie and eventually seal the victory for Alabama. Vincent's goal completed the hat trick and a four-point game for the 6' 5", 236lb center.
Lakeland jumped out on top on a power play goal by Chris Migliore midway through the first period. The Loggerheads had a golden opportunity to take control of the game as Alabama found themselves a man down just two seconds later on a slashing call to Jaroslav Kresec. However, the opportunity was lost as Slammers forward, Doug Lawrence, scored shorthanded to even the score.
Alabama added a second shorthanded goal by Vincent on another Loggerheads power play at 12:43 of the first period.
"I don't know why, but our defense seemed to be very uptight with the puck, but we were much better in the second half of the first period as we settled down," Loggerheads coach Rick Ladouceur said.
Lakeland was able to even up the score late in the first period as newcomer Dru Burgess netted one with assists from Justin Schabes and Jeremy Vokes at the 17:58 mark.
The teams traded goals in the second period and picked up the physical play on both ends of the ice. The Loggerheads seemed to control the tempo of the period and had several quality chances on Alabama goalie Jamie Ronayne.
"We had a really good week of practice and we emphasized to be strong on the puck and when we did that we had a lot of opportunities and we did that for the whole second period," Loggerhead Associate Coach Tony Zappia said.
The teams traded another pair of goals as Vincent notched his second of the night for Alabama on a power play and Lakeland answered back as forward Dru Burgess scored on a pass from defenseman Curtis Sayler.
The Slammers went ahead to stay as Vincent tallied his third of the night on the power play at 15:54 of the third period.
The Loggerheads and the Slammers face off again Wednesday night at The Lakeland Center. The puck drops at 7:05pm.
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World Hockey Association-2 Stories from November 24, 2003
- Slammers Weekly - Alabama Slammers
- Loggerheads Edged by Slammers - Lakeland Loggerheads
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