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Pride hold on to beat Grrrowl, 4-3

February 15, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz News Release


GREENVILLE, SC - The Florence Pride won their third game in the last four outings Sunday afternoon, defeating the Greenville Grrrowl 4-3 at the BI-LO Center.

Despite outshooting Greenville 21-12, and having several quality scoring opportunities in the first period, Florence found itself in a scoreless tie through the first 20 minutes of play.

The teams would explode in the second period, combining for five goals in just under seven minutes.

It was Florence striking first, taking advantage of its first power-play opportunity at the 8:18 mark. Kyle Kidney skated across the Grrrowl blue line, and dropped a perfect pass for Bobby Russell at the top of the left-wing ciricle. Russell's blast beat Daniel Bosclair over the right shoulder for his fifth goal of the season.

The lead did not last long however, as Greenville tied it just 45 seconds later. The Grrrowl had a 2-on-1 opportunity, but it was broken up by Adam Elzinga, who went to the ice to knock down Scott Kirton's pass. But, the puck rolled right back to Kirton, and he banked a shot off of Sebastien Laplante's left leg pad for his 16th goal of the season.

The Grrrowl took the lead at the 12:04 mark, scoring a power-play marker of their own. Jeremy Kyte fed a perfect cross-crease pass to John Nail on the near post, and Nail one-timed the pass past Laplante and into the net for his third goal of the season.

But, the Pride camp back scoring two goals just 1:52 apart to take the lead heading into the third period. At the 13:14 mark, Elzinga had his shot turned aside by Bosclair, but Russell crashed the net, and roofed a rebound over the down-fallen goaltender for his second tally of the game.

Then, at the 15:06 mark, it was Elzinga taking matters into his own hands as his shot from the left point handcuffed Bosclair, and went behind him into the net for the rookie defenseman's second goal of the season.

The Pride doubled their lead just 2:49 into the final period. Kidney skated free into the Grrrowl zone, and left the puck for Mark McRae at the blue line. McRae skated to the top of the left-wing circle and blasted a blistering slap shot that beat Bosclair for his eighth goal of the season, but first since January 14.

Greenville pulled back within one at the 15:17 mark of the third period. Former Pride defenseman Jason Metcalfe took a shot from the right point. Laplante got a piece of the shot, but it deflected up in the air, and rolled across the line. It was Metcalfe's first goal since the 2001-02 season, and just his third goal in five professional seasons.

The Grrrowl pulled Bosclair for an extra attacker in the closing minute, and came close to tying it in the final seconds, but Laplante made two big saves on Kirton with three seconds left to preserve the win.

Florence's four-game road trip continues Tuesday with a 7:00 face-off in North Charleston against the South Carolina Stingrays. All of the action on WDAR Sunny 105.5 starts with the Palmetto Chiropractic Pre-Game Show at 6:40.

The Pride return home on Saturday, hosting the Florida Everblades at 7:30 p.m. It's NASCAR Night presented by Darlington Raceway. The seventh annual Wiener Dog Nationals takes place during the first intermission of the game. Tickets for that game, and all remaining Pride home games, are available at the Florence Civic Center Box Office, or through TicketMaster at (843) 679-9333 or on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.



ECHL Stories from February 15, 2004


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