Sundogs Handed First Shootout Loss of Season
March 9, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Arizona Sundogs faced the Austin Ice Bats in the first of three remaining regular season road games Friday night, garnering one of a possible two standings points. The Sundogs would battle back twice from one-goal deficits but would be unable to score in the shootout rounds. The Sundogs now sit in a tie for second place with the Amarillo Gorillas just three points back of first-place New Mexico.
John Ronan would give Austin an early 1-0 lead as he would score on the Ice Bats' first shot of the game. Aaron Davis and Mike Possin would assist on the goal coming at 1:11 of the first period. At the 5:52 mark the Sundogs would pull even as Ladislav Kouba would slap the puck past Austin netminder Tony Quesada on a setup pass from Cory Stillman.
Nearly matching their first period effort, Austin's trio of Ronan, Possin and Davis would again score early. Ronan tallied his second of the night past Arizona's Kris Mayotte just 1:38 in to take a 2-1 lead. Much the same as the first, the Sundogs would even the score, this time on a Karl Sellan goal from Ryan Steeves. Sellan would collect his 18th goal of the season to once again tie the game.
Neither club would break the stalemate in third and overtime periods forcing a shootout. The shootout would be the Sundogs third in five games. Austin would shoot first and Michael Tucciarone would notch the eventual game winner finding the back of the net to give the Ice Bats a cushion. Karl Sellan would continue to be the Sundogs opening round shooter but was unable to slide the puck into the goal. John McNabb would skate second for Austin beat Mayotte for Austin second goal in two tries. Cory Stillman would attempt to get Arizona on the board but would be stopped by Quesada. Kouba and Brad Mehalko would also see chances for Arizona but Quesada would stand tall. Coming into Friday night's contest Arizona held a 5-0 record in shootouts.
Kris Mayotte appeared in net for Arizona stopping 21 of 23 shots in the loss while Tony Quesada skated for Austin deflecting 29 of 31 shots in the 3-2 win. Each team had three power play chances on the night but neither was able to convert, both going 0-for-3.
The Sundogs now head to Odessa for a Saturday night contest with the Jackalopes. The two teams saw one and other last Saturday with Odessa skating away with the 4-2 victory. On Sunday the Sundogs square off against fellow second-place club, the Amarillo Gorillas. The puck drops Saturday at 6:00pm while Sunday's game is set for a 3:00pm start time (both times Arizona). Catch all the action live on 96.7 FM The Wolf, the Official Broadcast Home of the Arizona Sundogs. Sunday's game will be tape delayed until 5:00pm (Arizona time).
Central Hockey League Stories from March 9, 2007
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