Rowe and Sgroi Provide Heroics in Comeback Victory

February 2, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Johnstown Chiefs News Release


Johnstown, PA - The Chiefs pulled out a victory in come-from-behind fashion at the War Memorial tonight, with Mike Sgroi notching the deciding point in the shootout to give Johnstown the 2-1 victory.

Dayton out-shot Johnstown 8-5, but neither team would find the score sheet in the first 20 minutes of play. Ryan Garlock and Jean Desrochers both broke for the Bombers' net short-handed but failed to put shots on goal. A wraparound attempt by Randy Rowe midway through the period nearly found the net, but it was turned aside by Dayton goaltender Jeremy Duchesne. Garlock almost cost the Chiefs a goal late in the period when he mishandled a puck in front of the Johnstown net. Nie was quick to cover.

The game remained deadlocked through the second period. Desrochers tried to get the home team on the board on the power play, splitting the defense and carrying the puck into the Dayton zone. His shot sailed just wide of the net. Mike Sgroi tried to create traffic in front of Bombers netminder Duchesne but was hit in the back with a Brian Deeth slapshot. Rob Drummond, Codey Burki and Sgroi had the best scoring chance of the first 40 minutes with a 3-on-2 break that was broken up in front of the Dayton net.

Brad Bonello would give the Bombers the advantage 41 seconds into the third, from Mike Berry and Greg Labenski. Johnstown barraged Duchesne with shots late in the game, finally slipping one past Duchesne with less than a minute left to play. Rowe scored at 19:06 to send the game into overtime, assisted by Garlock.

Neither team would find the net in overtime.

Dayton struck first in the shootout with Berry. Matt Beaudoin would also slip shots past Nie, but the Chiefs would answer with points from Desrochers and Garlock. Sgroi ended the game when he lifted the puck past Duchesne in the seventh round of the shootout.

Ryan Nie earned the win in net, stopping 21 of 22 shots.



ECHL Stories from February 2, 2008


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.

OurSports Central