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Pride Weekly

December 1, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz News Release


LAST WEEK: After opening the week with a 9-1 loss in Columbia, Florence rebounded to win two of three home games over the weekend to earn a .500 record for the week. Entering this week's action, the Pride are 7-9-2 for 16 points and are in sixth place of the Southern Division.

Wednesday, November 26 @ Columbia Inferno 9 PRIDE 1

Columbia dominated Florence from start to finish, scoring three times in each of the three periods. Mike Souza ruined the Inferno's shutout bid with a power-play goal with just 4:32 remaining in the game.

Friday, November 28 v. Reading PRIDE 5 Royals 1

The Pride opened their five-game home stand in grand fashion with a 5-1 pasting of the Royals. Wes Goldie scored his first three goals of the season, while Allan Sirois and Mark McRae added single tallies. Florence was 4-for-7 on the power play against a Reading team that had allowed just six power-play goals all season coming into the game. Matt Underhill made 35 saves to record his second win of the season.

Saturday, November 29 v. Greensboro Generals 4 PRIDE 2

Greensboro scored a pair of goals in each of the first two periods to take a 4-0 lead into the third. The Pride rallied early in the stanza, getting goals from Mark McRae and Jeff Szwez 21 seconds apart in the opening 2:03. Florence then had a two-man advantage for 1:28, but could not get another puck past Generals' goaltender Daniel Berthiaume.

Sunday, November 30 v. Florida PRIDE 3 Everblades 2 (OT)

Florida struck first just 2:16 into the contest on a power-play tally by Matt Pagnutti. The Pride would go ahead before the end of the period, getting power-play goals from Ryan Knox at 13:57 and Wes Goldie at 14:24. It stayed 2-1 until the closing minute of regulation when Florida's Gray Shaneberger got a puck past Dan Lombard with 58 seconds left to tie it. In overtime, Jeff Szwez streaked down the right side and beat Jeff Maund with a slap shot to give the Pride the win.

THIS WEEKS' GAMES

Friday, December 5 v. South Carolina 7:30 p.m. Lion's Den

This is the second of seven meetings this season between the Pride and Stingrays. South Carolina won the first game, 3-0, at North Charleston on October 28. This is the first meeting between the teams at the Lion's Den since the Pride's series-clinching win in game four of last season's playoffs. South Carolina enters the week with a record of 8-9-1 for 17 points and is in fifth place in the Southern Division, one point ahead of the Pride.

PROMOTIONS: South Carolina Waterfowl Association Night

Saturday, December 6 v. Columbus 7:30 p.m. Lion's Den

Florence and Columbus meet for the first of seven times this season. The Pride are 8-4-1 all-time against the Cottonmouths. Columbus is 5-14-2 for 12 points and is tied for sixth place in the Central Division.

PROMOTIONS: The Florence Lion's Club will be on hand selling their Goodfellas Buttons for $1. All money raised will be used to help feed needy families in the area over the holiday season. It's also the first Season Ticket Holder Redemption Night of the season. Pride season ticket holders can bring any unused tickets to the Pride office, and exchange them for a free 400-level ticket.

Sunday, December 7 @ Roanoke 4:00 p.m. Coverage on WDAR Sunny 105.5 at 3:40

The Pride and Express will become familiar with one another during the week as the teams will play three straight contests against one another (Fri. 12/13 @ RNK and Sat. 12/14 @ FLO). Roanoke won the first meeting this season, 4-3 in a shootout, on November 13 in Florence. The Express are 12-7-0 for 24 points, and are in fourth place in the Southern Division.

PRIDE IN THE COMMUNITY

Monday, December 1

Victor Gervais, Ryan Knox, Dan Lombard and Mike Torney will be at McLeod Children's Hospital at 3:00 p.m. to visit with the patients and spread some holiday cheer.

Tuesday, December 2

Paws will be at the Civic Center from 9:00-9:30 a.m. to greet children who are attending storytelling.

Wednesday, December 3

Allan Sirois will be at the Lake City Library at 3:00 p.m. to read to kids and to give an equipment demonstration.

Thursday, December 4

Dan Lombard will be this week's guest on the Qantum Communications morning shows. Lombard will appear on The River 102.9, Eagle 92.9, Sunny 105.5 and 103X, starting at approximately 8:00 a.m.

Victor Gervais, Ryan Knox, Sebastien Laplante, Dan Lombard and Mark McRae will be at the Magnolia Mall at 6:00 p.m. to act as judges during the mall's "Pet Night."

Several players will be at the Fairfield Inn at 5:30 p.m. for the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce "Business After Hours" event.

Sunday, December 7

Paws will take part in the Darlington Christmas Parade, which starts at 4:00 p.m.

PRIDE NOTES

- With an assist in Saturday's game against Greensboro, Allan Sirois tied Dany Bousquet's Knoxville/Florence franchise record for most career assists (194). Sirois needs seven goals and eight points to break Bousquet's records in those categories.

- Sirois is also closing in on some ECHL milestones. He needs to play in nine games to reach the 500-game plateau, and needs six goals to reach 200 for his ECHL career.

- Victor Gervais needs four assists to reach 300 in his ECHL career.

- After not scoring a goal in any of the Pride's first 15 games, Wes Goldie broke out in a big way on Friday, notching the team's first hat trick of the season. Goldie added another goal in Sunday's contest. Three of his goals last week came on the power play, and his fourth was shorthanded.

- Florence continues to climb up the league rankings on the power play. In the four games last week, the Pride were 7-for-21 (33.3%) on the man advantage. They are now second in the league on the power play, converting at a 24.2% clip.

- Nine of Victor Gervais' 15 assists this season have come on the power play.

PRIDE LEADERS
Goals Souza/Sutter 7
Assists Gervais 15
Points Gervais 20
+/- McRae +5
Penalty Minutes Brunel/Torney 50
Shots Souza 52
Power Play Goals Souza/Sutter 4
Shorthanded Goals Goldie/Kidney 1
Game-Winning Goals McRae/Sutter 2

PRIDE ON THE AIR

All Pride away games can be heard on WDAR Sunny 105.5 FM and on-line at www.florencepride.com with the Voice of the Pride, Joe Babik. Each broadcast begins 20 minutes prior to faceoff with the Palmetto Chiropractic Pre-Game Show.

PRIDE TICKETS

Tickets for all Pride home games can be purchased at the Florence Civic Center Box Office (10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday; through the second period on game nights), all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at (843) 679-9333 or on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.



ECHL Stories from December 1, 2003


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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