Seals End Losing Streak, Upend Knoxville 3-1
December 10, 2006 - SPHL (SPHL)
Florida Seals News Release
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - They were in the middle of a five game losing skid. They had yet to win a game on the road. Their opponent had lost the night before in their own building.
Nothing seemed to be in the favor of the Florida Seals hockey team Saturday night. Still, the visiting Seals found enough offense and rookie goalie Matt Balser came within five seconds of his first pro shutout as Florida came away with a 3-1 victory at the Civic Coliseum.
Following the game Friday night in Richmond, Florida had to endure a fairly lengthy bus ride. Once the game in Knoxville began, they had to be wondering whether they should have stayed on the bus. The Ice Bears had four power play opportunities in the first ten minutes including two separate sessions of 5-on-3 man advantage time. With Balser playing confidently following a tough loss the night before, the defense tightened up and killed off the short handed situations.
Eventually Florida got its own chance on the power play and they cashed in. Rob Sich and Kahlil Thomas combined to set up Tim Vitek who beat Knoxville goalie Terry Dunbar. Despite being out shot in the first, the Seals came away with a 1-0 lead.
After a scoreless second stanza where Balser again held the Ice Bears scoreless, Florida doubled its lead two minutes into the third when Ryan Coghlan turned a Knoxville defenseman, faked Dunbar out of position and buried the puck in the back of the net.
As the time grew short on the clock for Knoxville, they began to apply more pressure looking to ignite their offense. Balser and his teammates were equal to the task. Ice Bears' coach Jim Bermingham resorted to pulling Dunbar with four minutes remaining for an extra attacker. The ploy backfired when Justin Keller scored an empty net goal to give Florida a commanding 3-0 margin.
All that was left for the visitors was to try to post the shutout. Jeff Hansen spoiled what would have been a perfect night for the Seals when he beat Balser at the 19:55 mark.
For the night, Balser made 35 saves and earned the number one star of the game from the Knoxville off-ice crew. Vitek, who was a going concern in both of the weekend tilts, was given the number two star.
The Seals travel back to Central Florida today. They return to the Seals' Den at the Silver Spurs Arena on Tuesday night when the Jacksonville Barracudas come calling. Game time is set for 7:35 p.m.
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SPHL Stories from December 10, 2006
- Seals End Losing Streak, Upend Knoxville 3-1 - Florida Seals
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