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RiverBlades Trail IceGators, Sea Wolves

December 2, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Arkansas RiverBlades News Release


The Arkansas RiverBlades went 0-2-1 this past weekend, and now stand in third place in the Southwest Division with a record of 12-8-3. The RiverBlades¹ 27 points rank fourth in the Southern Conference.

Last week...The Riverblades weekend began with a home game against the Baton Rouge Kingfish Friday night. In a sign of things to come, Arkansas could not hold a 4-1 advantage in the third period, as Baton Rouge scored five third-period goals to defeat the RiverBlades 6-4. Joe Guenther scored twice in the frame, and Garnet Jacobson got the game-winner. Buddy Smith had two goals and an assist, and Eric Long contributed two assists for the Blades.

The following night, Arkansas looked to get back in the win column, traveling to Baton Rouge on the back-end of a home-and-home series. Matt Pagnutti tallied two power-play goals and Eric Long again had two helpers, pushing the RiverBlades to a 3-0 lead. However, once again, the Blades faltered, as the Kingfish scored the next three to tie it, then won it in a shootout 4-3.

Sunday afternoon, the Blades looked to salvage one win out of the weekend when they traveled to Jackson to take on the Bandits. Matt Pagnutti scored his team-leading 7th power-play goal and Buddy Smith had a goal and an assist, but Jackson got goals from six different players and held off the RiverBlades for a 6-4 victory. Eric Fortier continues to be a RiverBlade-killer, as he scored his 7th of the year. 5 of Fortier¹s 7 goals this year have come against Arkansas.

Team Leaders...Buddy Smith has scored 6 goals and 5 assists in his last 5 games, and ranks second in the ECHL with 34 points. Smith trails Reading¹s Brian McCullough, who has 35 points. Smith is also tied for third in goals (14), and fourth in assists (20). Terry Marchant has 10 points in his last 10 games, all assists. He ranks second on the team with 27 points and is tied for fourth in the ECHL with 20 assists. In addition, Marchant is tied with Richmond¹s Lars Petersen for 8th in the ECHL in scoring. Jason Bermingham has 6 points in his last 5 games, and 13 in his last 10. Bermingham ranks third on the team with 26 points, which is also good enough for 9th in the ECHL. Matt Pagnutti leads the team with 7 power-play goals, after setting a career-high with 9 goals all of last year. The RiverBlades¹ power-play is running at a 23.23 percent clip, which ranks 4th in the ECHL.

A look ahead...The RiverBlades travel to Lafayette this weekend for two huge showdowns with the Louisiana IceGators on Friday and Saturday. Game time both nights is at 7:05 p.m. Arkansas then returns home next Tuesday, December 10th, to host the Jackson Bandits at Alltel Arena. Game time is also 7:05 p.m. All games can be heard on the CSN radio network, FM 101 The River, and on the Internet at www.RiverBlades.com.

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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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