Thunder 4 goal rally erased by late Bakersfield comeback

Published on December 22, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Tim Konsorada's shorthanded goal with 4:46 remaining in regulation capped a three-goal rally by the Bakersfield Condors, who sent the Thunder to a 6-4 loss efore a crowd of 5,466 fans at Stockton Arena on Friday night.

Konsorada scored two goals to lead Bakersfield's offense, who completed their comeback from a 4-2 deficit with three goals in a span of 5:19, after the Thunder scored four unanswered goals.

The two clubs traded scoring chances in the opening frame as both Stockton and Bakersfield battled for the all-important opening tally. The Condors nearly grabbed the lead at the mid-way mark of the period while short-handed as Bakersfield forward Sean Venedam hit forward Andrew Ianiero over the middle with a tape-to-tape break-away feed. Ianiero's shot, however, hit the crossbar behind Thunder netminder Glenn Fisher.

Stockton tested Bakersfield goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji minutes later as right-winger Stephane Goulet completed a crisp cross-ice pass to left-winger Jacob Micflikier up the left side into Condors territory, resulting in wrist-shot attempt from the left face-off circle. Fukufuji turned the shot aside with a right-pad stop.

Venedam would break the scoreless draw at the 17:07 mark of the period as the Condors capitalized on a Thunder turnover at center that resulted in an odd-man rush towards the Stockton goal. The Condors forward took a feed from Ianiero in neutral ice, sped over the Thunder blue-line, and beat Fisher with a wrist-shot from inside the right face-off circle to put Bakersfield up 1-0. Venedam's goal was his 8th of the season.

The Condors grabbed a 2-0 lead at 4:27 of the second period as Bakersfield made the most of another odd-man rush through the neutral zone. Ianiero raced up the right-side and fed a wide-open Brett Lutes skating toward the left face-off circle. The Condors left-winger received the pass and beat a sprawling Fisher stick-side to collect his 12th goal of the season.

Goulet cut the Condors lead in half at 14:32 with an individual effort that saw the Thunder forward cause a turnover at the left half-wall inside the Bakersfield zone. Goulet proceeded to cut in on Fukufuji, and produce a rebound off his initial shot attempt. Micflikier proceeded to put the loose puck past the Condors netminder to make the score 2-1 with his 9th tally on the year.

Thunder defenseman Tim O'Connell tied the score 2-2 at the 19:21 mark of the period on the power-play as his 40-foot wrist-shot from the high-slot squeaked by Fukufuji glove-side. O'Connell's goal, scored in his season debut and out of an eight-month retirement, was his first of the year.

The Thunder took the lead at the 8:28 mark of the third period as center Ryan O'Marra circled the Condors goal and fed a wide-open Mark Adamek in the slot. Adamek proceeded to beat Fukufuji with a wrist-shot stick-side to put Stockton ahead 3-2. The goal was Adamek's 3rd of the season.

Fifty-three seconds later, Goulet struck for his 3rd goal on the year, a power-play marker, as the Thunder right-winger drove the Condors goal and re-directed an Andy Contois cross-ice feed by Fukufuji to make the score 4-2 at 9:21. Bakersfield responded with four unanswered goals to seal the victory.

Left-winger Mark Derlago scored his 6th goal of the season at 9:55 beating Fisher in-tight with a shot high to the glove-side off a loose puck in front of the Thunder goal to cut the Thunder lead to one goal at 4-3. Center Tim Konsorada proceeded to net the equalizer at 12:31, and the eventual game-winning goal at 15:14, a short-handed tally, to record his 15th and 16th goals on the season. Venedam capped the scoring with an empty-net goal, his second tally on the night and 9th on the season at 19:47, to make the score 6-4.

NOTES: Goulet's three-point (1g-2a) effort gave the Thunder forward 10 points (3g-7a) in his last five games ... O'Marra's assist gave the all-star center a point in seven of his last eight games ... the Thunder has dropped the first three games of the season series against the Condors and is 6-7-6 in the all-time series.

The Thunder returns to play on Saturday, December 22 with a 7:30 p.m. home game against the Phoenix RoadRunners at Stockton Arena. The game can be heard live on radio at 1420-AM KSTN and on the internet (video and audio available) at www.stocktonthunder.com, courtesy of B2 Networks.

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