Pacha Hat Trick Leads Blaze to Victory in Dayton

December 29, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bloomington Blaze News Release


DAYTON, Ohio - The Bloomington Blaze, presented by Mid-Illini Credit Union, used a hat trick by Omar Pacha and a late second-period flurry to earn their second road win, a 5-3 decision over the Dayton Gems on Thursday evening at Hara Arena.

The teams traded goals to start the contest. Damien Surma clanged one off the left post from the right wing with 16:13 left in the first period, and Omar Pacha answered for the Blaze from the slot just 44 seconds later.

The Blaze were placed on a 5-on-3 disadvantage to start the second period, and the Gems only needed 23 seconds of the frame to tie the game with Kyle Bochek's putback goal. The Blaze surged to a 3-2 lead on Pacha's third goal of the game, set up with a pass from the slot from Jerry Pollastrone, with 4:36 left in the middle period. Jon Booras then redirected a Vladimir Nikiforov shot with 1:35 left, and Kyle Laughlin slapped home a faceoff win by Jason Dale with 4.4 seconds left to send the Blaze into the second intermission with a 5-2 lead.

The Gems cut the Blaze lead to 5-3 with 11:31 left when Ryan Hohl jabbed at a puck between the legs of Blaze goalie Zane Kalemba. That ended the scoring, as the Gems put an extra attacker on for the final two minutes but came up empty.

Zane Kalemba improves to 8-8-1 with the win by making 34 saves. Larry Sterling suffered the loss for the Gems, falling to 5-2-0 with 29 saves. The Blaze improve to 9-16-2 while the Gems fall to 11-12-5.

The Blaze play their only home game of the week on Friday night in the first matchup of the season against the Missouri Mavericks. It's a Pepsi Date Night, when fans who bring a Pepsi product to the U.S. Cellular Coliseum box office while purchasing a reserved seat ticket receive a second ticket free. Pepsi products will be donated to the Clare House Food Pantry. Also on Friday, with the purchase of any combo meal, the second combo meal of equal or lesser value is free. More information is available on Facebook, Twitter (BLMBlaze), www.bloomingtonblaze.com or by calling the Blaze office at 309-434-2980.



Central Hockey League Stories from December 29, 2011


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