Sweetland's Hat Trick Helps Jackals Crush Devils, 7-2

Published on November 21, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Elmira Jackals News Release


Trenton, N.J. - Andrew Sweetland recorded the first hat trick of his career and had five points on Saturday at the Sun National Bank Center as the Elmira Jackals (9-2-3-0) exploded for a 7-2 victory over the Trenton Devils (5-6-0-1). The Jackals are now alone atop the Eastern Conference with 21 points.

Eric Regan's goal at 5:17 of the first period from A.J. Perry and Corey Cowick gave the Jackals their first power play goal in 12 tries and solved a Devils penalty kill that had been perfect in their last 11 short-handed situations, making it 1-0 Elmira.

Sweetland's first goal of the game occurred at 13:02 of the first period after an aggressive play by Devils goaltender Jeff Lerg gave Elmira a gaping net and eventually a 2-0 lead. Lerg skated from his net toward the blue line to try to prevent a Jackals two-on-one rush, but Kevin DeVergilio took possession of the puck and fed Sweetland in the slot, who buried the puck into the goal for the Jackals' third short-handed tally of the season.

At 14:58 of the first, Taylor Vichorek pushed in a rebound past Jackals goaltender Marco Cousineau from a Matt Lombardi shot to put the Devils on the board, making it 2-1.

Sweetland ripped a one-timer from the left circle over Lerg's glove 27 seconds into the second period off of a feed from John de Gray for a 3-1 Jackals advantage. Oren Eizenman had an assist on the play, extending his point-earning streak to eight games (4g-11a).

At 2:29 of the second, de Gray's shot was tipped by Sweetland to Eizenman, and the Toronto native beat Lerg stick side, extending Elmira's lead to 4-1.

The Jackals scored their second short-handed goal of the game and fourth of the season at 4:20 of the middle frame when DeVergilio chipped a puck off a feed from Sweetland in the left circle high glove past Lerg, upgrading Elmira's advantage to 5-1.

Sweetland's hat trick came from a wrister in the slot at 10:31 of the second that slipped through the pads of Lerg, the final tally of a four-goal second period for the Jackals that saw them jump out to a 6-1 lead after two.

In the third period, Yannick Tifu found the net from the low right circle off of a feed from Eizenman to give the Jackals a 7-1 cushion.

Dave Leaderer's goal at 19:22 of the third period closed out the scoring, knocking in a loose puck from the crease on the Devils' 43rd shot of the game.

Cousineau's 41 saves were a career best as the rookie netminder improved to 5-1-3-0. Lerg dropped to 4-2-0-0, permitting seven goals on 26 shots.

The Jackals travel to Reading for a 5:05 p.m. game on Sunday against the Royals.

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ECHL Stories from November 21, 2010


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