Pride Weekly

December 15, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz News Release


LAST WEEK: For the second week in a row, the Pride went 1-1-1, losing in regulation at Roanoke on Friday, falling in a shootout at home to the Express on Saturday, and beating Augusta at the Lion's Den on Sunday. Florence is 9-11-4 on the season for 22 points and is in seventh place in the Southern Division, trailing fourth-place Columbia by eight points.

Friday, December 12 @ Roanoke Express 6 PRIDE 4

Goals by Wes Goldie (shorthanded) and Victor Gervais provided the Pride a 2-1 lead through one period. Roanoke tied it 4:34 into the second period on a Tim O'Connell goal from the point. Just 18 seconds later Florence went back on top on a Nicolas Corbeil tally. That would be the last lead of the night for the depleted Pride, who played the game with just 14 skaters. Roanoke scored three unanswered goals to take a 5-3 lead midway through the middle period. The Pride pulled back within one on a Shaun Sutter power-play tally with 2:12 left in the second. But, Roanoke iced the game on a Dan Carney goal at the 9:16 mark of the third.

Saturday, December 13 v. Roanoke Express 3 PRIDE 2 (SO)

After a scoreless first period, Wes Goldie gave the Pride a 2-0 lead scoring a pair of goals just 35 seconds apart in the opening 4:29 of the second. The Express battled back to tie it before the end of the period on goals by Dancan Dalmao and Dan Carney. Neither team scored in the third period or in overtime, sending the game to the shootout. Roanoke scored on four of its five attempts, while the Pride managed three goals on their five opportunities. For the second straight night, the Pride played shorthanded, playing with just 13 skaters.

Sunday, December 14 v. Augusta PRIDE 2 Lynx 1

The Pride took a 1-0 lead 8:21 into the game on an Allan Sirois power-play goal. It stayed that way until the third period, when Wes Goldie doubled the Pride lead with a power-play tally of his own at the 5:18 mark. Augusta pulled within one just 50 seconds later on a Jonathan Gagnon goal. Dan Lombard made the lead stand, coming up several big saves in the closing moments. Lombard finished the game with 26 saves on 27 shots.

THIS WEEKS' GAMES

Friday, December 19 @ Florida 7:30 p.m. Coverage on WDAR Sunny 105.5 at 7:10

The Pride and Everblades meet for the fifth of eight times on the season. Florence is 1-3-0 against Florida this season, and 0-2-0 at TECO Arena. Florida enters the week 15-6-5 for 36 points, and is in first place in the Southern Division.

Saturday, December 20 @ Florida 7:30 p.m. Coverage on WDAR Sunny 105.5 at 7:10

The Pride and Everblades meet for the second game in a row, and for the final time in Florida this season.

PRIDE IN THE COMMUNITY

Wednesday, December 17

Jeff Szwez will be reading to students at Carver Elementary School at 1:00 p.m.

Several players will be teaching gym class at Brockington Magnet Elementary School.

PRIDE NOTES

- Wes Goldie continued his hot streak last week, scoring a shorthanded goal Friday at Roanoke, scoring two goals Saturday at home against the Express, and adding a power-play goal, which turned out to be the game-winner, Sunday against Augusta. Goldie now leads the team with 10 goals on the season, with all 10 goals coming in the last nine games.

- In his last four starts, Dan Lombard is 2-1-1 with a 1.46 goals-against average. He has allowed one goal in two of the games, and two goals in the other two.

- The Pride penalty kill continues to move up the league rankings. In the last five games, Florence has killed off 24 of 25 opposition man-advantage chances (96.0%). For the season, the Pride are now 21st in the league, killing penalties at an 81.5% clip.

- In the last four games the Pride have fired off 150 shots, an average of 37.5 shots per game. For the year, the Pride average 29.5 shots per contest, good enough for 21st in the league.

- Allan Sirois continues to close in on several milestones. He needs six goals and four points to become the Pride all-time leader in those categories. Additionally, he will reach the 500 games played plateau in his ECHL career when he appears in three more games, and with five goals, will reach 200 for his ECHL career.

- Victor Gervais reached a milestone in Sunday's win over Augusta. During the game, the veteran notched his 300th career ECHL assist, making him the 16th player in league history to reach that number.

- Sunday's win against Augusta ended a three-game home winless streak for the Pride. In the team's last six home games (2-2-2) they have scored a total of 11 goals (1.83 goals/game).

PRIDE LEADERS
Goals Goldie 10
Assists Gervais 20
Points Gervais 26
+/- McRae/Szwez +1
Penalty Minutes Torney 67
Shots Souza 69
Power Play Goals Sutter/Goldie 5
Shorthanded Goals Goldie 2
Game-Winning Goals McRae/Sutter/Goldie 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.

YARD SIGNS

The Pride would like to thank all of their fans who have been placing their yard signs on game days. If you do not have a yard sign, they are available at the Pride office from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Pride's next two home games are Friday, December 26 against South Carolina and Saturday, December 27 against Columbia.



ECHL Stories from December 15, 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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