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Roanoke Express Weekly

November 3, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Roanoke Express News Release


ROANOKE, VA – The Roanoke Express strung together its best week of action winning three of four games, and enter this week on a three-game winning streak. The Express enters this week with a record of 4-4-0, (8 pts., 4th place in Southern Division).

LAST WEEK'S ACTION

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2003 vs. ATLANTIC CITY 4-2 LOSS

The Express and the defending Kelly Cup Champion Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies met up for the second of four meetings this season last Tuesday night at the Roanoke Civic Center. The Boardwalk Bullies came to Roanoke for their first road game of the season, and still holding a perfect record of 4-0-0 on the season.

The Express opened the scoring at 11:15 of the first period on Rick Kowalsky's second goal of the season, but the Bullies tied the game just over three minutes later. Tied at one heading into the second period, Atlantic City broke out for two goals in the middle stanza to open a 3-1 lead after two periods of play. Tim O'Connell cut into the lead for the Express with his second goal of the season midway through the third period at 10:09, to make it a 3-2 game. However Atlantic City re-opened a two-goal advantage with a power play goal at 16:38.

Jason Wolfe started in goal for the Express, and faced 42 shots, stopping 38 of them, but suffered the loss, to fall to 1-2-0 on the season. The Express fell to 0-2-0 vs. Atlantic City this season, and is now 10-8-3 all-time vs. the Boardwalk Bullies.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2003 at GREENVILLE 4-1 Win

The Express took on the Greenville Grrrowl for the first of six times on the year on Friday night at the BI-LO Center in Greenville, SC., and earned a hard-fought 4-1 win. The game was Roanoke's first game inside their division this season.

Neither team tallied a goal in the first period, but in the second, the Express broke through first on Jeremy Kyte's third goal of the season at 6:50. Roanoke held that lead going into the third period, when the Express took a two-goal lead on a short-handed goal by Shawn Limpright just 1:26 into the final period. Limpright, who had just exited the penalty box while the Grrrowl were on the power play, skated down the right wing boards, and lifted a shot into the upper right hand corner of the net to give the Express the 2-0 lead. However, the Grrrowl battled back to cut the lead to 2-1 at 2:40 of the third period with a power play goal. The score remained 2-1 until 11:34 of the final period when Doug Scatchard scored his first professional goal, by jamming home a shot from the side of the net. With Roanoke leading by two goals, Greenville elected to pull their goaltender in the closing moments, and that allowed Dan Carlson to collect his third goal of the season into the empty net with just seven seconds remaining.

David Belitski started in goal for the Express and made several big saves en-route to the win. Belitski (1-2-0) stopped 21 of 22 shots to pick up the victory. The win moved Roanoke to 4-0-1 all-time vs. Greenville.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2003 vs. GREENSBORO 6-4 Win

The Express took on its division rival Greensboro Generals for the first of seven times this season on Saturday night, and earned a 6-4 win, to run its winning streak to two straight games. The Express faced former Roanoke goaltender Daniel Berthiaume and was able to jump on him early to get the quick lead.

Tim O'Connell scored the first of his two goal in the first period just 1:25 into the game, on a quick wrist shot into the upper right hand corner of the net, getting the Express off the to fast start. O'Connell gave the Express a 2-0 lead at 8:51 of the first period with a power play goal from the center ice line. His shot from the red line, dipped on Berthiaume and snuck inside the left post for the two-goal lead.

Greenboro fought back and scored at 11:58, just as a power play expired to cut Roanoke's lead to 2-1. In the second period, the Express again took advantage of a power play situation to score twice in the first five minutes of the period. With a 5-on-3 power play, Duncan Dalmao collected his first goal of the year at 4:03. While still on the man advantage, Dan Carney notched his first goal of the year at 5:15 to give the Express a 4-1 lead. Midway through the second period, the Generals pulled Berthiuame, and put Martin Kresac in goal for his first action of the season. The Generals again managed to cut the lead in half with a power play goal of their own at 17:05 of the second period, but the Express regained its three-goal advantage with 1:28 left in the period on Joe Dusbabek's first goal of the season.

Roanoke collected its largest lead of the game with its fourth power play goal of the night coming at 4:04 of the final period on a deflection by Shawn Limpright. Trailing by four goals, Greensboro mounted a come-from-behind effort, scoring twice in the final 11 minutes, but couldn't get any closer.

David Belitski made his second straight start, and picked up the win by stopping 33 of 37 shots, raising his record to 2-2-0. The Roanoke power play was at its best this season going 4-for-9, and likewise, the penalty kill was strong, as the Express killed off 10 of 11 chances for Greensboro. The moved Roanoke to 18-11-2 all-time vs. the Generals.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2003 vs. CHARLOTTE 2-0 Win

Roanoke saved their best for last on a busy weekend, by shutting out the Charlotte Checkers 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at the Roanoke Civic Center. In the first of six meetings of the year between the two clubs, both team entered the game playing its third game in as many days.

A quiet first period led to no goals being scored in the first 20 minutes. The quiet play continued into the second period, until the Express broke through at 11:05 of the middle period on a nice deflection goal by Dan Carlson. Roanoke remained on top 1-0 into the third period, seeking some cushion, and found it with a power play goal at 9:35 of the third period, on another deflection goal, this time by Dan Carney. Leading 2-0, the Express clamped down defensively, and kept the Checkers from getting too many quality chances on net.

David Belitski started in goal for the Express for the third consecutive game, and pitched the shut out, stopping all 28 shots he faced. Belitski saw his record climb to 3-2-0, by picking up his and the team's first shut out of the season. The win also gave Roanoke three wins in its first three divisional games. The Express is now 40-18-3 all-time vs. Charlotte.

UPCOMING GAMES

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2003 vs. AUGUSTA 7:30 p.m.

The Express hosts the Augusta Lynx for the first of two times on the season. Overall the Express and Lynx will battle each other five times this season. Augusta enters this week with a 3-5-0 record, which has them in 5th place in the Central Division of the Western Conference. Last season the Express won both meetings between the two teams, and is 27-16-6 all-time vs. Augusta.

Friday night is "Golf Night" at the Roundhouse! In between periods, contests will have a chance to participate in a chipping contest, with the winner receiving a round of golf with some Express players.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2003 vs. COLUMBIA 7:30 p.m.

The Express hosts one of its new divisional foes, the Columbia Inferno on Saturday night. The game is the first of five games between the two teams, and the first of three at the Roanoke Civic Center. Entering this week, the Inferno is in first place in the Southern Division with a 5-2-1 record. Last season the Express played against the Inferno twice, and lost both games. Last year was the first time the two teams played against each other in their histories.

Saturday night at the Roundhouse is "Hockey Tradition Night". The Express players will be wearing throw-back uniforms, designed to look like the Express uniforms from the early ‘90's when the Express first joined the ECHL. The special jersey's will be auctioned off after the game to fans. Fans are also encouraged to wear all white to the game to create a "white-out" effect!

NEWS & NOTES

STREAKING!: The Express is currently on a season-high three game winning streak which has brought the team back to the .500 mark on the season. During the winning streak, the Express has outscored its opponents 12-5, and is 5-for-18 (27.7%) on the power play.

SPECIALTIES: Early in the 2003-04 season, the Express is 10th on the power play (19.6%) and is 11th on the penalty kill (85.2%).

GETTING SETTLED AT HOME: The Express is in the midst of a season-long four-game home stand, and has started the home stand off with two victories. Overall, the Express is 2-2-0 at home after dropping its first two games at the Roundhouse. Roanoke doesn't play their next road game until November 13, when the team travels to Florence.

MILESTONES: Several Express players on closing in on milestones; F Joe Dusbabek is 13 games shy of his 200th pro game played in, and is also two goals away from his 50th pro goal...D Kevin Bergin is one game shy of his 100th career pro game...F Dan Carlson needs one games to reach 150 in his career and 51 to reach 200...F Dan Carney is one games away from playing in his 500th professional game, and is five points shy of his 200th career point...D Duncan Dalmao needs two goals to tally his 50th career goal.

TEAM LEADERS: Early on, Shawn Limpright leads the Express with 11 points. The second-year pro out of St.Adolphe, Manitoba has collected four goals and seven assists in the eight games played. Right behind him, Dan Carlson has picked up four goals and six assists for 10 points.

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