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Rage Fall Again on the Road

December 9, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA) News Release


Prescott Valley, Ariz. - After overcoming a 2-0 deficit to the tie the game at two in the second period, the Rocky Mountain Rage could not slow down the Arizona Sundogs' offense as the Rage were defeated, 6-3, in the first meeting of the season between the Central Hockey League's two expansion teams.

The first period was evenly played until the Rage ran into penalty trouble in the frame's final minutes. Although it will not go on the books as a power play goal, the Sundogs opened the scoring at 19:07 when Dan DaSilva's one-timer rang off the post and in just as a Rocky Mountain penalty expired.

Trailing 1-0 early in the second period, the Rage yielded another power play tally to the Sundogs at 4:04 when Mike Vernace danced around a defenseman and fired past goaltender Trevor Cunning from the left circle. Rocky Mountain came to life with a power play goal of its own after Nathan Rosychuk re-directed a Dan Vandermeer shot from the point at 6:20. Just 19 seconds later, Craig Olynick found the back of the net from the point and all of sudden the game was tied at two.

The momentum swung back to Arizona when they quickly responded, though. After a pair of brilliant saves from Cunning, the Sundogs' Brent Kelly found the puck again and fed DaSilva to move his club back in front only 1:19 after the Rage tied the game. Kelly then ripped a slapshot top shelf on the power play at 17:07 to give Arizona a 4-2 edge heading to the third.

Kelly tallied his second of the game at 3:13 of the final period and the 'Dogs had their largest lead of the night, 5-2. Anders Strome scored his team-leading 11th of the year on the power play at 7:26 of the third to pull the Rage within two, but seconds after the club pulled Cunning in favor of an extra attacker down the stretch, Arizona's Martin Doyle fed the puck into an empty net for the final 6-3 margin.

The Rage are now winless over their last 11 games (0-9-2) away from Broomfield Event Center and fall to 6-11-2 overall with 14 points on the year.

Rocky Mountain now travels to face the New Mexico Scorpions tomorrow before returning to Broomfield Event Center on Dec. 13 to host the Oklahoma City Blazers at 7:05 p.m.

The live play-by-play action from tomorrow's game can be heard on Z560's sister station, AM 810 KLDC, beginning at 6:50 p.m. with the pre-game show. The broadcast will also be simulcast online at www.RockyMountainRage.com.

Single game tickets for tomorrow's showdown with the Thunder and every other Rage home game are on sale with prices ranging from $15-$40 per seat. Tickets may be purchased online at www.BroomfieldEventCenter.com, by calling 303-410-TIXS, or at the Broomfield Event Center box office (11450 Broomfield Ln., Broomfield, 80021). Season tickets, mini-packs, and group plans are also available for the 2006-07 season by calling 303-439-RAGE. For more information, visit www.RockyMountainRage.com.

Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.

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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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