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Roanoke Express Weekly

December 1, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Roanoke Express News Release


ROANOKE, VA – The Roanoke Express earned four of a possible six points this past week with a 2-1-0 record. The Express has strung together a winning week in four of the past five weeks. The Express enters this week with a record of 12-7-0, (24 pts., 4th place in Southern Division).

LAST WEEK'S ACTION

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2003 vs. GREENVILLE 6-3 Loss

The Express and the Greenville Grrrowl met for the second time this season, and the Grrrowl outplayed the Express to a 6-3 win. The loss snapped Roanoke's six-game winning streak. After Greenville netted the only goal of the first period, things got wild in the second. Dan Carlson began the scoring for the Express with a power play goal just 51 seconds into the period to tie the game 1-1. The Grrrowl answered back midway through the frame to regain the lead, but the Express battled back to score two more power play goals to take the lead 3-2. Duncan Dalmao notched his 50th career professional goal at 13:29 and Jeremy Kyte followed with his sixth goal of the season just 42 seconds later. The lead was short lived however, when Greenville tied the game at three 1:41 after Kyte's goal.

Tied at three after two periods the Grrrowl stormed in front scoring twice in the first 12 minutes, and added an empty net goal with just 29 seconds remaining in the game.

David Belitski started in goal for the Express and faced 31 Greenville shots, stopping 26. The loss knocked his record to 7-4-0. The loss evened the season series at one win a piece.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2003 vs. FLORIDA 7-5 Win

Roanoke and Florida met for the first of four times this season on Friday night, and the Express won the high-scoring affair 7-5. The Everblades entered the game as the highest scoring team in the ECHL averaging almost four goals per game, but it was the Express, who entered the game fifth in the league in average goals/per game, who won the slugfest. Several game high's were set by the Express in the contest, including most goals in one period (4), most penalty minutes (87), and most combined penalty minutes (154).

The game saw the Everblades jump out to a 3-0 lead by the three minute mark of the second period, before the Express began its comeback. Roanoke stormed back scoring four goals in the second period to take a 4-3 lead after two periods. Rick Kowalsky opened the scoring for the Express at 3:31 of the period. Kevin Bergin notched his first goal of the season at 4:53 and Shawn Limpright tied the game at 8:32. Dan Carlson put the Express on top 4-3 at 17:49 of the middle period.

Roanoke's lead didn't hold long, as Florida tied the game at four just 1:28 into the third period. The game remained tied until the 8:09 mark when Kowalsky notched his second goal of the game. The Express opened a two-goal advantage with on Carlson's second goal of the night at 11:03. The Everblades drew back within a goal by notching a power play goal with 2:33 remaining in regulation. Roanoke sealed the win on Limpright's empty net goal with 46 seconds remaining.

Jason Wolfe was in goal for Roanoke and stopped 35 of 40 Florida shot to earn the win, bringing his record to 3-3-0.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2003 at SOUTH CAROLINA 3-1 Win

The Express skated against the South Carolina Stingrays for the second time this season, and came away with a 3-1 win on Saturday night. The win brought Roanoke's record to 2-0-0 against the Stingrays this season. In their first game at the North Charleston Coliseum, the Express got off to a quick start, when Rick Kowalsky scored 49 seconds into the game by deflecting home a shot by Dan Carlson to give the Express an early 1-0 lead. Defense and goaltending took over from that point on, with neither team scoring again until the third period. In the third, the Stingrays tied the game 2:07 into the final period. However the Express answered right back when Blair Stayzer ripped a slap shot into the net from the left circle at 3:17 of the third period to give Roanoke a 2-1 lead. South Carolina came with pressure in the closing minutes of the contest, but the Express weathered the storm, and sealed the win with an empty net goal by Dan Carlson with only 39 seconds remaining. The action included plenty of physical play as well, with the teams combining for 112 penalty minutes, including two fights by new Express forward Rob Snowball with Robin Gomez of the Stringrays.

Jason Wolfe made his second consecutive start in goal for the Express and brought his record to 4-3-0 with the win, turning away 41 of 42 South Carolina shots. In addition, Wolfe stopped Stingrays defenseman Aaron Power on a penalty shot at 5:47 of the first period.

UPCOMING GAMES

FRIDAY & SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5 & 6, 2003 at READING 7:05 p.m. (Both Games)

Roanoke takes on the Reading Royals for the first two times this season on Friday and Saturday night at the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA. The games will be the first of three between the former division rivals. Last season the Express dominated the Royals going 7-1-0. The Royals enter this week with a

10-6-3 record (23 pts., 4th Nothern Division). Roanoke is 15-6-0 all-time vs. Reading.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2003 vs. FLORENCE 4:00 p.m.

The Express hosts the Florence Pride for the first of two times this season on Sunday afternoon. The game will be the second of five between the two Southern Division rivals. The Express collected a 4-3 shootout win on November 13 in Florence. The game is also the first of three consecutive games for Roanoke against Florence, as the teams will play against each other next Friday and Saturday as well. The game marks the return of former Express head coach Perry Florio to the Roanoke Civic Center for the first time this season. Entering this week's action, the Pride is 7-9-2 (16 pts., 6th Southern Division). The Express is 19-8-0 all-time vs. the Pride.

Sunday afternoon is "Cops & Kids" Day at the Roanoke Civic Center. All kids in attendance will receive a "Cops & Kids" water bottle courtesy of the Roanoke City Sheriff's Department.

NEWS & NOTES

BOUNCING BACK: The Express has not lost back-to-back games since the opening three games of the season, when the team started 0-3-0.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Entering this week, the Express is 4th on the power play (22.5%) and is 13th on the penalty kill (83.8%).

HOME SWEET HOME: After beginning the season losing its first two home games, the Express has won seven of the last eight at the Roanoke Civic Center. The streak began on Nov. 1 with a win against Greensboro. Since then, the Express has added wins against Charlotte, Augusta, Columbia, South Carolina, Las Vegas, and Florida. Only Greenville has tripped up the Express of late at the Roundhouse.

FAST START: The Express has scored the first goal of the game in 11 of its last 14 games. In those 14 games, the Express is 11-4-0. Oddly enough, the Express began the season allowing the first goal of the game in its first four contests. Overall this year when the Express scores first in a game they are 8-3-0.

SHOOTING GALLERY: Express goaltender Jason Wolfe has faced an incredible 259 shots in his last six starts. That's an average of 43.1 shots per start for Wolfe in that span, and overall this season, he has seen an average of 42.6 shots per game played in.

CHALK-UP ANOTHER MILESTONE: Express F Dan Carney has reached another milestone in his career. On Sunday afternoon at Dayton, the 9th-year pro collected his 200th career point with an assist on Roanoke's first goal of the game vs. the Bombers. Earlier this season, the native of Brooklyn, NY played in his 500th career game on Nov. 7 vs. Augusta.

MILESTONE PART II: Duncan Dalmao scored his 50th professional career goal on Thurday against Greenville, when he notched a power play goal in the second period.

OTHER MILESTONES: Several other milestones are within grasp by Express players; F Joe Dusbabek is two games shy of his 200th pro game played in...F Dan Carlson needs 40 games to reach 200.

WHO'S HOT: LW Shawn Limpright has scored a point in six straight games (5 G, 7 A)...C Jeremy Kyte has a point in three straight games (1 G, 2 A)...C Dan Carlson has a point in four straight and 11 of the last 12 games (8 G, 12 A), and has scored a goal in four straight games...RW Rick Kowalsky has collected a point in 9 of the last 11 games (9 G, 10 A)...LW Joe Dusbabek has scored a point in six of the last seven games (1 G, 9 A)...G David Belitski has won seven of his last nine starts.

TEAM & LEAGUE LEADERS: After 19 games, Dan Carlson leads the Express with 29 points

(11 G, 18 A), which also ranks him 2nd in the ECHL in total points. Rick Kowalsky and Shawn Limpright are tied for second on the team in scoring with 26 points. Kowalsky is also 2nd in the league in goals scored with 12, and Limpright is also tied for 1st in the league with six power play goals, and leads the league in power play points with 14. Duncan Dalmao is tied for 1st in the league with 10 power play assists, and is second in the league in power play points with 13. Defenseman Tim O'Connell leads the entire league with 90 shots on goal.

ALL EXPRESS GAMES ARE BROADCAST LIVE ON THE 3WR RADIO NETWORK, 910 AM IN ROANOKE AND 990 AM IN BLACKSBURG. ALL GAMES ARE LIVE ON THE INTERNET AT www.wcqv.com



ECHL Stories from December 1, 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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