CHECKERS BLOWN OFF THE BOARD BY CYCLONES 

     VERSUS    

CYCLONES STORM PAST CHECKERS IN GAME 3

Cincinnati Scores Six Straight To Down Charlotte 9-5

The Charlotte Checkers came from a goal down twice and wasted two one-goal leads of their own before succumbing to a flurry of six straight goals in less than 20 minutes to drop a 9-5 decision to the Cincinnati Cyclones in Game 3 on Wednesday evening before 2009 at the U.S. Bank Arena in Ohio.

The victory gives Cincinnati a 2-1 series lead for the right to face the Reading Royals in the American Conference Finals. Cincinnati will again host the Checkers Friday and Saturday night.

Rookie forward Andrew Carroll scored a goal and added two helpers for the Checkers in a losing effort.

Cincinnati jumped out to an early lead during a first period power play when Maxime Lacroix buried a rebound of a Brett Motherwell point shot. Lacroix’s first of two on the night came just 2:11 into the first period.

Just over a minute later, Aaron Slattengren evened the score at 1-1 when he ripped a shot past Cyclones netminder Jeremy Smith (37 saves, 23-15-0) on the power play. Randy Rowe and Trevor Hendrikx picked up assists on the play.

Cincinnati then took its second lead of the game on a goal by leading scorer Barret Ehgoetz. A turnover in the Checkers’ end allowed Dustin Sproat to break in alone on Ryan Munce(12 saves, 26-14-2). The Checkers starter in the pipes then poked the puck away but Ehgoetz was there to bang home the rebound.

Midway through the period, Charlotte went to work on the power play again and tied the game when Tyler Doig skated out from corner and fired a wrist shot into the top corner over the glove of Smith.

The Checkers then took their first lead of the game when Matt Stefanishion blasted a one-timer from the side wall that found the back of the net. The goal came at 1:35 of the second and was assisted by Doig and Carroll.

Cincinnati defenseman Doug Krantz tied at 3-3 with a shot from the top of the circle before Charlotte went ahead again on a goal by Carroll. The Checkers rookie won the faceoff back to David Marshall then grabbed the loose puck, spun around and fired it home for his third of the playoffs.

From there it was all Cyclones as they exploded for six goals in less than 20 minutes.

Ryan Del Monte started the onslaught when he beat Munce on the blocker side from the right wing side and Lacroix scored his second of the game, 37 seconds later, on a shorthanded 2-on-1.

Cincinnati added two more quick goals, 20 seconds apart, early in the third. Ian McKenzie beat Munce on the short side with a wrist shot before Jimmy Kilpatrick picked up a loose puck in front and stuffed it home. The goal made it 7-4 in favor of the Cyclones and brought Garrett Zemlak into the game in relief of Munce.

Mathieu Aubin made it 8-4 when he tipped home a point shot on the power play and Brett Robinson added another shorthanded tally for Cincinnati with less than five minutes to play.

Matt Schepke added a late goal for the Checkers but it wasn’t enough as the Cyclones walked away with the 9-5 victory.

Charlotte (4-2) will host Cincinnati again on Tuesday, Apr. 27 and Wednesday, Apr. 28, if necessary. Ticket information can be obtained by calling 704-342-4-ICE or visiting www.gocheckers.com/playoffs.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

NOTES:

* Charlotte is 11-2 in its last 13 home games

* David Marshall leads the Checkers with eight points (4g, 4a) while Mike Taylor leads the team with five goals

* Marshall is on a five-game point streak (4g, 2a)

* Charlotte clinched its first division title and #1 conference seed in franchise history heading into the playoffs

* Ryan Munce led the ECHL in save percentage (.913), was third in wins (26) and was named ECHL Goaltender of the Month for March

* Andrew Carroll led the Checkers this season with 30 goals, including six game winners

LINES:

Roche – Leveille © – Slattengren
Doig – Carroll – Stefanishion
Rowe – Taylor – Marshall
Schepke

Schaeffer – Brouillette 
Nightingale – Reynolds
Hendrikx – Ward

Munce
Zemlak
 

THREE STARS

1. CIN – M. Lacroix
2. CIN – B. Ehgoetz
3. CHR – A. Carroll

ON-ICE OFFICALS:
Referee:
Keith Kaval (20)

Linesmen:
Ray King (39)
Matt Macpherson (83)

NEXT GAME:

Jason Shaya and Chris Snavely will call Games Four and Five at the US Bank Arena starting at 7:30pm. Game four is a must win for the Checkers.

For live in-game coverage from your cell phone or computer, we’ll have the action for you at www.twitter.com/howlingstoday.

You can always buy tickets for any Checkers game home or away at Ticketmaster.com.

Should you want to watch this very exciting team from the comfort of your computer chair, all Checkers games are available on B2Live.

Charlotte Checkers 5 At Cincinnati Cyclones 9 – Status: Final

Apr 21, 2010 – U.S. Bank Arena

Charlotte 2 2 1 – 5

Cincinnati 2 3 4 – 9

1st Period-1, Cincinnati, Lacroix 2 (Motherwell, Kilpatrick), 2:11 (pp). 2, Charlotte, Slattengren 1 (Rowe, Hendrikx), 3:15 (pp). 3, Cincinnati, Ehgoetz 5 (Sproat), 7:35. 4, Charlotte, Doig 1 (Carroll, Brouillette), 8:59 (pp). Penalties-Slattengren Chr (hooking), 1:54; Benson Cin (roughing), 2:35; Stefanishion Chr (roughing), 3:31; Jozsa Cin (delay of game), 7:43; Taylor Chr (hooking), 13:11.

2nd Period-5, Charlotte, Stefanishion 3 (Doig, Carroll), 1:35. 6, Cincinnati, Krantz 1 (Aubin, O’Hanley), 3:05. 7, Charlotte, Carroll 3 (Marshall, Schepke), 5:11. 8, Cincinnati, Del Monte 1 (Benson, O’Hanley), 18:21. 9, Cincinnati, Lacroix 3 (Ehgoetz), 18:58 (sh). Penalties-Reynolds Chr (roughing), 3:05; Robinson Cin (holding the stick), 13:43; Motherwell Cin (hooking), 18:31; Carroll Chr (interference on the goalkeeper), 19:55.

3rd Period-10, Cincinnati, McKenzie 2 (Motherwell, Kilpatrick), 0:50 (pp). 11, Cincinnati, Kilpatrick 5 (Pierce), 1:10. 12, Cincinnati, Aubin 1 (Jozsa, Lacroix), 12:26 (pp). 13, Cincinnati, Robinson 2 (Sheahan), 15:52 (sh). 14, Charlotte, Schepke 2 (Rowe, Hendrikx), 17:55. Penalties-Reynolds Chr (hooking), 3:58; Kilpatrick Cin (slashing ), 5:16; Leveille Chr (interference on the goalkeeper), 11:43; Ehgoetz Cin (hooking), 14:14.

Shots on Goal-Charlotte 11-15-16-42. Cincinnati 11-6-7-24.

Power Play Opportunities-Charlotte 2 of 6; Cincinnati 3 of 7.

Goalies-Charlotte, Munce 4-3-0-0 (19 shots-12 saves); Zemlak 0-0-0-0 (5 shots-3 saves). Cincinnati, Smith 5-2-1-0 (42 shots-37 saves).

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