Surge take Game One
April 2, 2010 - SPHL (SPHL)
Mississippi Surge News Release
BILOXI, MS - Matthew Larke's two goals powered the Mississippi Surge past the Columbus Cottonmouths, as the Surge defeated Columbus 5-2 in Game One of the teams' first-round series in the SPHL President's Cup Playoffs at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on Friday night.
Mississippi had an opportunity to get out to an early lead when Columbus forward Craig Stahl took a five-minute major penalty for boarding 50 seconds into the first period, but were unable to get a shot off on the entire power play.
Jeff Grant drew first blood for Mississippi, tapping home a loose rebound after Matt Zultek fired a wrist shot and hit Vigier in the mask at 8:07.
Just 12 seconds into the second period, as Columbus was on the power play, Matthew Larke picked off Kyle Lundale's breakout pass and skated in alone on Vigier, tucking the puck past his left goal pad for a shorthand goal and a 2-1 Surge lead. At 5:44, Matt Zultek's bullheaded charge brought the puck out from behind the Columbus goal, where the 6-5 forward used his long reach to deposit the puck past Vigier on the stick side for a 3-1 lead.
The Cottonmouths drew within one when Orrin Hergott blasted home the rebound of Kyle Lundale's shot off of a faceoff win on the power play at 8:21 of the third. Mississippi answered back when Nick Klaren redirected Chris Greene's shot from the right win through Vigier's legs at 12:07 of the third, and then Larke sealed it when he broke in alone from the right circle and again deked the Columbus goalie to the ice and tucked the puck past him on the stick side.
The Surge were 0-for-5 on the power play, and Bill Zaniboni made 36 saves to earn the win.
The Surge face the Cottonmouths in Game Two of the series tomorrow at the Columbus Civic Center at 4:00 p.m. CT. Tomorrow's game will be broadcasted on FM 103.1 WOSM and presented by Martin Lake Resort in Ocean Springs! The pre-game show will begin at 3:45 p.m. CT.
Games Four and Five, if necessary, will be at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on April 9 and 10 at 7:30 p.m. All tickets for the game are just $5, and can be purchased by calling (228) 287-PUCK. Fans are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to the games to benefit The Back Bay Mission of Biloxi. Every fan who brings a non-perishable food item will be entered to win a team autographed Surge jersey!
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