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Twins end week with pair of victories

January 24, 2005 - SPHL (SPHL)
Winston-Salem Polar Twins News Release


Last week the Winston-Salem Polar Twins took two of four, picking up two wins at the end of the week by defeating Fayetteville 3-2 in overtime on Friday and then shooting down the Asheville Aces 6-2 in Asheville on Saturday. Prior to the two wins, the Polar Twins had lost four straight.

Monday, January 17 v. Fayetteville: George Nistas had a hat trick for Fayetteville as the FireAntz overpowered the Polar Twins by a score of 6-2 in a Monday afternoon contest at LJVM Annex.

Fayetteville picked up the lead only 3:01 into the game on a power play tally by Steve Roberts. The goal was the 22nd of the year for Roberts, who leads the FireAntz in goals this season.

Trevor Karasiewicz tied the game 1-1 with his 10th goal of the season with less than three minutes remaining in the opening period. The FireAntz turned the puck over to Shaun Aebig in front of the net. Aebig found Justin Kot, who was wide open on the right wing side. Kot then made a smooth pass to Karasiewicz in the slot who beat Chad Collins to even things up.

Nick Kormanyos regained the lead for Fayetteville at 6:31 of the second. It looked like Cruz had made the save but the puck trickled through his pads and into the net for Kormanyos' fifth goal of the season. Nistas tallied a power play goal and Chad Peck added a shorthanded goal to send the game into the second intermission with Fayetteville on top 4-1.

A fluke goal by Aebig in the third period made it a two-goal game at 4-2 but Fayetteville would not back down. Nistas added two more goals to complete the hat trick and give the FireAntz a 6-2 victory.

Tuesday, January 18 v. Macon: Craig Miller had two goals to lead the Macon Trax to victory over the Polar Twins Tuesday in an early contest at LJVM Annex.

David Deeves' 18th goal of the season put Macon up 1-0 only 1:13 into the game. With Winston-Salem down a man, Lou DiMasi made a perfect cross-ice pass to Deeves who got off the one-timer to beat Rick Nichol for the goal.

Winston-Salem came back to tie the game 1-1 at the 7:41 mark of the opening frame. Chester Gallant's shot was stopped by Trax goaltender Terry Denike but Kot collected the rebound at the side of the net and wrapped around the back of the goal to lift the puck over a sprawling Denike for his fourth goal of the season.

Steve Zoryk put Macon up 2-1 at 9:46 of the first, making him the first Trax player to hit 20 goals on the season. The scored stayed that way until Craig Miller tallied his 19th goal of the season 41 seconds into the third period to put the Trax up 3-1.

Edan Welch put Macon up 4-1 at 4:52 of the third period and Miller added his second of the game to make it 5-1. Brett Cross added one for the Twins, a power play tally at 12:55 of the final frame, but it was too little too late as the Trax went on to capture the 5-2 victory.

Friday, January 21 v. Fayetteville: Justin Kot had all three goals for the Polar Twins, including the game-winner at 1:12 of the overtime period, to lift Winston-Salem over the Fayetteville FireAntz 3-2 in front of a sold out crowd of 3,351 at Joel Annex Friday night. It was the first Winston-Salem win over Fayetteville in over a year, dating back to last season when the T-birds inhabited Joel Annex.

The FireAntz drew first blood only 4:18 into the game on a power play tally by Chad Peck. George Nistas found Peck wide open in the slot for a one-timer that sailed by Jomar Cruz for the 1-0 Fayetteville lead.

The Polar Twins came back only 18 seconds later with Kot's first goal on the night and his fifth of the season. Trevor Karasiewicz lead the two-on-one rush into the FireAntz zone and got goaltender Chad Collins to commit before sending a quick pass to Kot on the right wing post to tie the game 1-1. Kot scored again at 17:28 of the first period, this time on a three-on-one breakaway caused by a delayed penalty call to Fayetteville, for his sixth goal of the season to put Winston-Salem up 2-1 heading into the intermission.

Fayetteville tied things up mid-way through the third period on Tyler Perry's unassisted goal at 9:27, brining the game to overtime. It was then that Kot completed the hat trick, the first of the season for any Polar Twin, to give the Twins a much-needed victory 3-2. The win snapped a four-game losing streak by Winston-Salem and halted a five-game winning streak by Fayetteville.

Saturday, January 22 at Asheville: Graham Dearle and Brett Cross each had two goals and an assist to lead the Polar Twins to their second straight win, a 6-2 thrashing of the Asheville Aces at Asheville Civic Center Saturday night. Jomar Cruz stopped 39 of 41 shots for his seventh win of the season for the Polar Twins.

Justin Kot's fourth goal in two games gave the Polar Twins the 1-0 lead 9:12 into the first period. Shaun Aebig and Trevor Karasiewicz were credited with the assists on the goal, Kot's eighth on the season. Brent Gardipy added his first goal as a Polar Twin at 13:06 of the frame to make it 2-0.

Peter Bournazakis put Asheville on the board with less than three minutes remaining in the first to cut the Twins' lead down to one goal at 2-1. The score would not stay that way long, however, as Cross regained the two-goal advantage with his 10th of the season only 1:21 into the middle frame putting the Polar Twins on top 3-1.

Michael Heindl once again made it a one-goal game at the 9:51 mark of the second, tallying a goal in his first game in the Aces lineup. Dearle answered for the Polar Twins less than three minutes later, tallying his first goal of the game and seventh of the season to give Winston-Salem the 4-2 lead heading into the third period.

It was more Winston-Salem in the third, as Cross picked up his second of the game – 11th of the season – to put the Polar Twins up 5-2. Dearle added his second of the game with under a minute remaining in the game to give the Polar Twins their second straight win by a 6-2 final.

Calendar

Upcoming schedule of appearances, practices, games, and promotions

Practice: Monday-Thursday 9:30-11:30 a.m. LJVM Annex

Pre-game Skate: Friday 9:30-11:30 a.m. LJVM Annex

Upcoming Games

Friday, January 28 Jacksonville Barracudas @ Polar Twins 7:30 p.m. LJVM Coliseum Annex

Saturday, January 29 Polar Twins @ Knoxville Ice Bears 7:30 p.m. Knoxville Civic Coliseum

Sunday, January 30 Asheville Aces @ Polar Twins 6:00 p.m. LJVM Coliseum Annex

Upcoming Promotions

Friday night the Polar Twins and WSJS AM 1600/1200 bring fans the Family Four Pack. Sunday evening the Polar Twins will host Church Night with special rates for church groups. For more information on these and other promotions, contact the Polar Twins office at (336) 724-1011.

Community Participation

Monday, January 24

Polar Twins' Captain Rhett Dudley and forward Justin Kot will meet with Cub Scouts to teach the basics of hockey.

Tuesday, January 25

Marcus Willy, Rick Nichol, Mike Walling, and Rhett Dudley will visit Little Gym on Reynolda Road to demonstrate hockey basics and demonstrate hockey equipment.

Transactions

Roster changes for the week

01/21/05 ADD Peet, Shawn (D) signed contract

01/20/05 DEL Ferguson, Chris (F) traded to Jacksonville

01/20/05 DEL Bone, Jason (LW) traded to Jacksonville

01/20/05 ADD Rochefort, Billy (D) acquired in trade from Jacksonville

01/20/05 DEL Ilijow, Troy (F) recalled by Pee Dee, ECHL

01/20/05 ADD Cermak, Peter (F) acquired in trade from Jacksonville

01/18/05 DEL Gallant, Chester (F) traded to Asheville

01/18/05 DEL Paul, Richard (D) traded to Asheville

01/18/05 ADD Ferguson, Chris (F) acquired in trade from Asheville

01/18/05 ADD McCarthy, Liam (D) acquired in trade from Asheville

Kot plays strong role in wins

Six points in last four games

Polar Twins forward Justin Kot has made quite an impression since signing with the Polar Twins on January 8. The Weyburn, Saskatchewan native tallied five goals and an assist last week, including a hat trick on Friday night en route to a 3-2 overtime win at home against Fayetteville. Since joining the Twins lineup, Kot has eight goals and three assists in nine games and is a +6.

Other notable performances:

Brett Cross with 5G, 1A in four games this week, including game-winner at Asheville on Saturday

Shaun Aebig with 1G, 6A and a +3 in four games

Trevor Karasiewicz with 1G, 5A and a +3 in four games

Team leaders

Points Shaun Aebig – 38 points (15G, 23A)

Goals Shaun Aebig – 15 goals

Assists Trevor Karasiewicz – 25 assists

Power Play Goals Shaun Aebig – 5 PPG

Penalty Minutes Graham Dearle – 59 PIM

+/- Justin Kot – +6

Shots Richard Gustafsson – 118 shots

Game-Winning Goals T-Shaun Aebig – 2 GWG

T-Trevor Karasiewicz – 2 GWG

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