AHL Manchester Monarchs

Morris becomes only coach with 300 pro and college wins

Published on November 13, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


MANCHESTER, NH - Head Coach Mark Morris picked up his 300th professional win as the Manchester Monarchs topped the Norfolk Admirals, 3-1, at the Verizon Wireless Arena during the fourth annual Education Day on Wednesday morning. Morris is the lone coach to collect 300 professional wins, all with the Monarchs, and 300 college wins, all with Clarkson University, during his career.

Manchester (10-2-1-2) is on top of the Atlantic Division with 23 points. Norfolk (7-5-0-3) is fourth in the East Division with 17 points.

"I'm still emotional, but at the same time, I'm a lot more savvy to realize that you can't control anything," said Morris when asked to compare his first win and his 300th victory. "I realized that at this age, when you admit your frailties, you can endear yourself to your players. I think that as a young coach, oftentimes, you strive for milestones just to prove that you're somebody. In the end, I think it's the relationships that you build, watching teams and watching individuals grow. That's the most satisfying part."

Right wing Brian O'Neill scored his fourth goal of the season, and second tally in as many games, at 2:27 of the middle frame to double the Monarchs lead to 2-0. Defenseman Vincent LoVerde sent a pass behind the Admirals cage to forward Ian O'Connor. O'Neill was skating into the right slot when he received a pass from O'Connor. O'Neill moved the puck to his backhand as he skated from right-to-left in front of the net before flipping the puck past netminder Viktor Fasth's blocker.

Left wing Andy Andreoff put the Monarchs on the scoreboard first with his third tally of the season 15:05 of the opening stanza. The referees reviewed the goal and determined it was good after Andreoff's shot bounced off of the crossbar and quickly darted out of the net and into the left corner. Defenseman Andrew Campbell and forward Nick Shore assisted on the first goal of the game.

Left wing Matt Beleski cut the Monarchs' lead in half with his first goal of the season at 9:54 of the second period. Left wing Max Friberg took a pass from defenseman Nolan Yonkman and carried it behind the net. Friberg found Beleski in the slot for a one-timer that rocketed over Monarchs goaltender Jean-Francois Berube's shoulder on his glove side.

The Monarchs brought their lead back to within two at 13:22 of the middle frame with O'Neill's second tally of the game. O'Connor carried the puck into Norfolk's zone for a 2-on-1 breakaway. As he stepped over the Admirals' blueline, the forward slid the puck across to O'Neill who was skating in from the right point. O'Neill sniped the puck past Fasth for his second of the game and fifth tally of the season.

Goaltender John Gibson replaced Fasth following O'Neill's second goal.

Berube (1-1-0) picked up his first win of the season stopping 23 of 24 shots. Fasth (0-1-0) took his first loss of the season making 27 saves on 30 shots. Gibson (5-3-2) finished the game saving all 12 shots he faced in relief duty.

Manchester went 0-for-1 on the power play. Norfolk went 0-for-2 with the man advantage.

Notables: Head Coach Mark Morris earned his 300th win of his professional career...Morris is the first coach in history to collect 300 professional wins, all with the Monarchs, and 300 college wins with Clarkson University...Goaltender Jean-Francois Berube picked up his first win of the 2013-14 season...Right wing Brian O'Neill has scored three goals in the last two games...Forward Ian O'Connor put up his first two points of the season with two assists.

The Monarchs travel up to Maine to face the Portland Pirates at 7:00 p.m. at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Friday, November 15. Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on Monarchs Radio Network WGIRAM.com and at monchestermonarchs.com presented by Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 13, 2013


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