Pride Weekly

December 8, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz News Release


LAST WEEK: Florence had a 1-1-1 week, falling in overtime to South Carolina and in regulation to Columbus before rebounding with a come-from-behind shootout win in Roanoke on Sunday. The Pride are 8-10-3 for 19 points, and are tied with the Charlotte Checkers for sixth place in the Southern Division.

Friday, December 5 v. South Carolina Stingrays 3 PRIDE 2 (OT)

Ryan Annesley's first professional goal 10:11 into the first period gave the Pride a 1-0 lead, which they carried into the intermission. South Carolina went ahead with a pair of goals in the second period, from Mike Jickling and Aaron Power. It stayed 2-1 until late in the third period, when Wes Goldie tallied his fifth goal of the season with just 1:55 left in regulation, to send the game to overtime. In the extra session, Jason Bonsignore converted on a 2-on-1 break at the 2:17 mark to give the Stingrays the win.

Saturday, December 6 v. Columbus Cottonmouths 1 PRIDE 0

The Pride were outshot 39-18 by the Cottonmouths and suffered a 1-0 setback. Rumun Ndur tallied the only goal of the game just 49 seconds into the third period. Dan Lombard suffered the hard-luck loss, turning aside 38 Cottonmouths' shots.

Sunday, December 7 @ Roanoke PRIDE 5 Express 4 (SO)

On four different occasions, the Pride found themselves trailing by a goal, and each time they rallied back to tie it. Wes Goldie, Shaun Sutter and Ryan Annesley tallied in the first two periods, as Florence trailed 4-3 entering the final 20 minutes. With 6:47 left in regulation, Mike Souza put home a rebound of a Scott Balan shot to tie the game and send it to overtime. After a scoreless five-minute OT period, the game went to the shootout. Both teams went scoreless through the first five shooters, and in the sixth round, Sutter tallied for the Pride, and Matt Underhill stopped Dan Carney's bid to give the Pride the win. Underhill came up big, stopping 37 shots in the game and all six shootout attempts.

THIS WEEKS' GAMES

Friday, December 12 @ Roanoke 7:30 p.m. Coverage on WDAR Sunny 105.5 at 7:10

The Pride and Express meet for the third time this season. Both of the previous two meetings have gone to a shootout with the road team winning both times. The Express are 0-2-1 in their last three games, and for the season are 12-9-1 for 25 points and in fourth place in the Southern Division, six points ahead of the Pride.

Saturday, December 13 v. Roanoke 7:30 p.m. Lion's Den

Florence and Roanoke meet for the third time in seven days, and for the fourth of five times on the season.

PROMOTIONS: The Pride will hold their annual "Teddy Bear Toss" during the game. All fans are encouraged to bring a new, plush toy to the game to throw on the ice after the Pride score their first goal of the game. All of the toys collected will be donated to WBTW News 13's Toys for the Territory campaign.

Sunday, December 14 v. Augusta 2:30 p.m. Lion's Den

The Pride and Lynx meet for the third of six times this season. Florence is 2-0-0 against Augusta this season, winning 3-2 at Augusta on October 25, and 4-2 at Florence on October 31. The Lynx are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games, and overall are 9-7-2 for 20 points, and sit in fifth place in the Central Division.

PROMOTIONS: It's another Sunday Kids' Day at the Lion's Den. All kids 12 and under can purchase tickets for just $2.50, and kids' meals will be available for an additional $2.50. There will also be face painting and other activities for kids to enjoy throughout the game.

PRIDE IN THE COMMUNITY

Monday, December 8
Dan Lombard will be the featured speaker at the Florence Kiwanis Club weekly meeting.

Tuesday, December 9
Paws will be the grand marshal of the Cheraw Christmas Parade, which begins at 4:00 p.m.

PRIDE NOTES

- Three of Florence's last four games have gone beyond regulation. The Pride are 2-0-1 in those three games.

- After not scoring a goal in any of the Pride's first 15 games, Wes Goldie has scored six times in the last six games.

- Mark McRae will rejoin the team this week. The rookie defenseman missed the three games over the weekend while he was attending an interview for a Rhodes Scholarship. He was one of 12 finalists for the prestigious award, but was not one of the two people selected to receive a scholarship.

- With an assist Friday night v. South Carolina, Allan Sirois set a new Knoxville/Florence all-time career record with 195 assists. Entering this week, he needs seven goals and six points to become the all-time leader in those categories. In addition, he needs to play in six more games to reach 500 in his ECHL career, and with six more goals will reach 200 in the ECHL.

- Victor Gervais needs two assists to reach 300 for his ECHL career.

PRIDE LEADERS

Goals Souza/Sutter 8
Assists Gervais 17
Points Gervais 22
+/- McRae +5
Penalty Minutes Torney 58
Shots Souza 69
Power Play Goals Souza/Sutter/Goldie 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 8, 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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