Scorpions Split First Two Games with Ice Bats

Published on March 24, 2003 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
New Mexico Scorpions News Release


SCORPIONS ON THE RADIO – The Scorpions are teaming up this season with SportsRadio 610 The Sports Animal to bring you all of the Scorpions action on the radio. Mike Sheehan is in his first season as the Voice of the Scorpions. Games 3 and 4 are scheduled to air on SportsRadio 610 The Sports Animal, although Game 4 is pending the outcome of tonight's UNM women's basketball game.

SCORPIONS HOCKEY TALK THIS WEEK – The Scorpions' weekly radio talk show airs TOMORROW from 6 to 7 p.m. on SportsRadio 610 The Sports Animal and on location at the Corner Pocket, 9603 Lomas NE. Scorpions Hockey Talk features Scorpions coach Bill McDonald and the "Voice of the Scorpions" Mike Sheehan. Scorpions forward Andrew McPherson will be a guest on tomorrow's show.

COMING EVENTS AT TINGLEY – Tickets for Games 3 and 4 of the Scorpions' playoff series with Austin are NOW on sale at the Scorpions team store, 6300 San Mateo NE in the Far North Shopping Center, and all TicketMaster outlets. Playoff ticket prices are $12, $14, $17 and $25. Call the Scorpions office at (505) 881-PUCK for more information.

SCORPIONS RECAP

GAME 1 – SCORPIONS 4, AUSTIN 3 – The Scorpions broke open a scoreless game with three second-period goals on the power play, then held on for a 4-3 win over the Ice Bats in Game 1 before a crowd of 1,050 at Chaparral Ice Center in Austin. Ben Gorewich chipped home a rebound at 1:48, followed by a 4-on-3 goal from Arturs Kupaks at 4:53. Peter Ambroziak made it 3-0 on a rebound goal with 3:09 left in the period, only to see Dan Price put Austin on the board 32 seconds later. Gerald Tallaire cut the Scorpions' lead to 3-2 after 43 seconds of the third period, but Tyler Baines scored what proved to be the game-winning goal just 1:26 after Tallaire's tally. Luciano Caravaggio stopped 26 of 29 shots for the win.

GAME 2 – AUSTIN 2, SCORPIONS 0 – Matt Barnes turned aside all 16 Scorpions shots as Austin evened the best-of-five series with a 2-0 win. Brett Seguin scored at 5:28 of the first period on a shot through traffic from the right circle. The goal held up until Shawn Legault was credited with a power play goal with 5:29 on the clock in the third period. Luciano Caravaggio had a strong game in goal for the Scorpions, saving 35 of 37 Austin shots.

SCORPIONS MATCH-UPS

AUSTIN – The Ice Bats claimed the Governor's Cup as regular season champions of the Central Hockey League with a league-best 46-14-4 record and 96 points. The Bats were 24-7-1 at home and 22-7-3 on the road. Due to a conflict at their usual home venue with the Star of Texas Rodeo, the games will be played at Chaparral Ice Center with a very limited capacity. Austin is led in scoring by Kelly Smart with 71 points (29g-42a). The vaunted STP line of Brett Seguin (16g-38a-54pts in 53 GP), Gerald Tallaire (25g-37a-62pts) and Dan Price (27g-37a-64pts) adds to a strong Austin attack. Defense is the Ice Bats' calling card, as they led the league by allowing 2.17 goals per game. CHL Outstanding Goaltender Matt Barnes led the CHL with 33 wins and a 1.96 GAA. He also tied the league record with eight shutouts. The Ice Bats enjoy strong special teams play, as the power play unit ranks fourth in the league at 18.5 percent while holding the top penalty killing squad at 88.2 percent. The Ice Bats won both regular season meetings with the Scorpions – 3-2 at Tingley Coliseum on Dec. 13 and 5-2 in Austin on Feb. 15. Each member of the STP line had three points in the two games.

PLAYOFFS – Dan Price (1g-2a) and Mike Gaffney (3a) leads the Bats with three points in the first two games of the series. Matt Barnes is third with 2.01 GAA and seventh with a .907 save percentage in the playoffs so far. Gerald Tallaire is the only multiple-goal scorer in the series, with two goals in Game 1.

CURIOSITY – The only other time the Scorpions and Ice Bats met in the postseason was in the Western Conference Finals in 2000, a series won by the Scorpions four games to one. That series also had games played at a venue other than the usual arena for one team, as the Scorpions played their home games at the Chavez Community Center in Santa Fe since Tingley Coliseum was unavailable.

SPECIAL TEAMS SPOTLIGHT – The Scorpions went 3-for-10 with the power play on Friday night after going just 1-for-15 in two regular season games against Austin. The Scorpions went 0-for-4 on Saturday. Austin went 2-for-9 in the two games after going 2-for-6 in the regular season against New Mexico.

CARAVAGGIO STARTS STRONG – Scorpions goalie Luciano Caravaggio is sixth in the CHL with a 2.51 GAA through the first two games of the playoffs. He is fourth with a .924 save percentage after splitting the two games in Austin. During the regular season, Caravaggio finished sixth in the CHL with a 2.49 GAA, his first season with under a 3.00 GAA. His 25 wins were second only to the 1999-2000 season with the Scorpions when he set a WPHL record with 37 victories.

STINGERS – Friday's game marks the first home playoff game for the Scorpions since Game 5 of the WPHL President's Cup Finals on May 6, 2000... Only Peter Ambroziak, Luciano Caravaggio and current assistant coach Travis Van Tighem remain from that 2000 team... The Scorpions are 3-3 in six all-time playoff series (0-1 in 1997, 1-1 in 1998 and 2-1 in 2000)... Five of the Scorpions' six playoff series have been against teams from Texas, with Shreveport in the 2000 Finals being the lone exception... Tyler Baines' goal on Friday was his first career playoff goal and first playoff game-winning goal, as the second-year forward didn't qualify for the playoffs with the Scorpions last season... The second period was the Scorpions' best period during the regular season as they outscored opponents 69-63... It remains the case during the playoffs as they outscored Austin 3-1 in the second period on Friday and the teams were scoreless in the second period on Saturday.

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Central Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2003


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