Wooddisse's Hat-Trick Lifts Utah Over RoadRunners 6-4

March 8, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


PHOENIX, Ariz. - Tyler Wooddisse's hat trick led the Utah Grizzles past the Phoenix RoadRunners 6-4 Sunday night in front of 3,104 fans at US Airways Center.

The Grizzlies (23-22-15) opened up scoring first at 1:29 of the first period when Rob Hennigar scored backhanded on a rebound. Tim Verbeek and Tom May assisted. Utah took a 2-0 lead at 10:57 when Evan Kotsopoulos set up Wooddisse who scored from the left point. Goalie Mike Mole had the other assist. The RoadRunners (26-28-3) cut Utah's lead in half when Michael Wilson scored off a rebound at 16:02 on the power play. Gino Guyer and Merit Waldrop had the assists.

"I thought that it took us a while to get the rust off," RoadRunners' Assistant Coach Brian O'Leary said of the first period, adding that the team hadn't played since Wednesday and didn't have a practice skate yesterday. "Once we got into it though I thought we were pretty good."

Phoenix tied up the game at 2-2 at 8:41 of the second period when Wilson set up Mitch Carefoot for a two-on-one break with Gino Guyer and Carefoot netted the puck from the bottom left circle. The Grizzlies took the lead back 24 seconds later when Wooddisse took a shot from the point and the puck was deflected past RoadRunners' goalie Chris Beckford-Tseu at 9:05. Hennigar and May assisted. Phoenix was able to tie up the game again at 15:45 when John McNabb scored from the slot from Kimbi Daniels and Daniel Sisca.

"I have to give Mole credit. He stood on his head, especially in the second period," O'Leary said of the former RoadRunners' goalie. "We out-chanced them but we couldn't beat Mole."

The Grizzlies took a 4-3 lead at 1:18 of the third period when Beckford-Tseu was unable to find the puck on a rebound to cover it and Verbeek was able to find it and score. Hennigar and Tim Maxwell assisted. The RoadRunners tied the game at 3:47 when Waldrop passed the puck across the crease and Mark O'Leary scored to the left of Mole. Guyer also assisted.

"We never stopped working," O'Leary said. Everyone understood the urgency of the situation we were in."

The RoadRunners had a chance to take the lead when Grizzly Jim Jenson took a five-minute major penalty with 5:36 left in regulation, but Utah was able to get a shorthanded goal at 18:28 when Wooddisse scored on a two-on-one break from Mike Walsh and Kotsopoulos. May sealed the victory for Utah when he scored an empty net goal at 19:32 from Hennigar and Verbeek.

"It's a tough thing to take," O'Leary said of the shorthanded goal by Wooddisse. "It's one mistake and it ends up in the back of the net."

Phoenix out-shot Utah 34-33. Beckford-Tseu stopped 27 shots but suffered the loss to fall to 1-3-1 overall on the season. The RoadRunners went 2-7 on the power play while Utah was 1-2 with the man-advantage.

Phoenix opens a five-game trip and a stretch of 12 out of their final 15 games on the road at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday with the first of four games in five nights against the Alaska Aces at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. Catch all the action live on Independent 1310 KXAM beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" at 8:00 p.m.

The RoadRunners return to US Airways Center at 7:05 p.m. Thursday, March 19 when they open a two-game series against the Alaska Aces.

Great seats are still available beginning as low as $8 and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (480) 784-4444, purchasing online at ticketmaster.com or visiting the US Airways Center Box Office. Information on season tickets, half-season packages, and flex plans for the 2008-09 season of Phoenix RoadRunners Hockey are available by calling (602) 462-GOAL.



ECHL Stories from March 8, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central