Wild top Monsters
October 23, 2010 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
FRESNO, Calif. - The Wenatchee Wild ruined the Fresno Monsters' first home opener in franchise history Friday night at Selland Arena, handing the expansion Monsters a 3-2 loss. The Wild improved its record to 9-3 and can sweep the Monsters for the second weekend in a row with a win Saturday night.
Wild forward Eliot Grauer (Mukioteo, Wash.) broke a scoreless tie with 2:55 remaining in the first period when he tallied a power-play goal from Bradley Shumway (Lafayette, Colo.). It was Grauer's team-leading 11th point of the season and his fifth point in the last three games. The Wild went up 2-0 just over a minute later when Chris Rumble (Chesapeake, Va.) scored an unassisted marker, which was his third goal in the last two games.
Fresno lit the lamp for the first time at Selland Arena near the midpoint of the second frame when Willie Hess redirected the puck into the net during a man-advantage. Wenatchee got that goal back with 6:10 left in the period, however, when Matt Cope (Lakewood, Colo.) buried a rebound into a wide-open net. Geoff Ferguson (Hanwell, NB) and Evan Schmidbauer (Surrey, BC) earned the assists.
Cope's goal, which turned out to be the game-winner, did not deflate the Monsters. Fresno went into the second intermission trailing by just a goal, 3-2, after Matt Tritsch redirected another power-play shot into the net with only nine seconds remaining in the period.
Despite a strong effort, Fresno could not get the equalizer in the third period. Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, Minn.) made a key save on Derek Sutliffe after the midpoint of the third period when he stymied his breakaway shot. It was the second breakaway attempt that Jaeger thwarted in the contest.
Jaeger stopped 18 of the 20 shots he faced and improved his record to 7-1 in the process. Jake Williams and Louis Puig combined to make 15 saves on 18 shots for the Monsters. Wenatchee was 1-for-6 on the man-advantage while Fresno was 2-for-5.
The second game of the series will begin at 7:35 p.m. tomorrow.
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