Pee Dee Pride Weekly

April 14, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz News Release


LAST WEEK: Pee Dee opened the week by eliminating South Carolina 3 games to 1 in the Southeast Division Semifinals, to advance to the division finals against Columbia. The Inferno won the first two games of the series on their home ice, putting the Pride on the verge of elimination heading into game three on Wednesday.

Monday, April 7 v. South Carolina PRIDE 4 Stingrays 3 (OT)

The Pride took a 2-0 lead 14:35 into the game on power-play goals by Greg Schmidt and Allan Sirois. But, the Stingrays scored a pair of goals 17 seconds apart late in the first to tie it, and then went ahead on Trevor Johnson's second of the night just 41 second into the second period. Wes Goldie tied it at 3 with 4:29 remaining in the middle period. After a scoreless third period, the game went to overtime. At the 13:49 mark, Kyle Kidney fed a perfect cross-crease pass to B. J. Adams who put it in the net, and clinched the series for Pee Dee. In the three all-time playoff meetings between the Pride and Stingrays, the team with home-ice advantage has gone on to lose the series.

Friday, April 11 @ Columbia Inferno 4 PRIDE 1

Columbia's Tim Smith opened the scoring with a power-play tally just 2:39 into the game. The Inferno added two more goals before the period closed, taking a 3-0 lead into the intermission. Pee Dee came to life in the second period, pulling within two on a B. J. Adams goal at 2:46, and putting heavy pressure on the Inferno net all period, but Patrick Couture would allow no more shots to get by him. Corey Hessler set the final with a power-play goal at the 15:57 mark of the third period.

Saturday, April 12 @ Columbia Inferno 2 PRIDE 1

After a scoreless first period, Wes Goldie put the Pride on the board first with a rebound goal 1:47 into the second period. Columbia tied it five minutes later on a power-play marker by Barrie Moore. The game remained tied until the 11:41 mark of the third period, when the Inferno's Robin Carruthers gathered in a loose puck in front of the Pride net, and slipped it past Ron Vogel for the game winner.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Pride enter game three at home on Wednesday night on the verge of elimination, trailing Columbia 2 games to 0. Pee Dee last faced such a deficit in the 2001 Conference Semifinals against Louisiana. The IceGators won the first two games in Florence, before the series went to Lafayette for the final three games. Pee Dee won games three and four at the Cajundome, before bowing out in game five. The last ECHL team to rally from an 0-2 deficit and come back to win a best-of-five series was last season's Johnstown Chiefs. Johnstown lost games one and two of the division semifinals at Peoria, before winning the final three games.

OTHER NOTES

OFFENSIVE DROUGHT

The Pride have scored just two goals in the first two games of the division final series, being outscored 6-2. Pee Dee has scored just one goal in each of its three losses this post-season. In their three wins, the Pride have scored a total of 11 goals. In addition, the power play has struggled in the first two games against Columbia. After going 4-for-11 on the man advantage in the last two games against South Carolina, Pee Dee is 0-for-9 on the man advantage against Columbia.

PRIDE PLAYOFF LEADERS

Goals Goldie 3

Assists Fregoe/Schmidt 3

Points Goldie/Fregoe/Schmidt 4

+/- Carriere +4

Penalty Minutes Torney 21

Shots Goldie 25

PLAYOFF TICKETS

Tickets for Wednesday's game three (home game C) of the Southeast Division Finals are now available. Tickets are $11, $14 and $17, and can be purchased at the Florence Civic Center Box Office from 10:00 a.m. through game time on Monday. They can also be purchased through TicketMaster, by calling (843) 679-9333 or logging on to www.ticketmaster.com. If the Pride win on Wednesday, tickets for Friday's game four (game D) will go on sale Thursday morning.

ON THE AIR

Catch all of the Pride road action on WDAR Sunny 105.5 FM. Game five, if necessary, is Saturday night at 7:00 from the Carolina Coliseum. Join the Voice of the Pride Joe Babik for all of the action starting with the Palmetto Chiropractic Pre-Game Show at 6:40.



ECHL Stories from April 14, 2003


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