ROAD WARRIORS WEEKLY #12: 1/3/11-1/9/11 

GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors earned wins in three of four games last week to improve upon their standing atop the South Division. This week they face the Gwinnett Gladiators in a three-game series that features one game at the BI-LO Center and two at The Arena at Gwinnett Center.

Record: 23-7-2, 48 pts., 1st place South Division

Leaders:
Goals –Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 14
Assists – Mark Voakes: 21
Points – Mark Voakes: 34
+/- – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: +12
PIMs – T.J. Reynolds: 100
PPG – Jimmy Kilpatrick/Mark Voakes: 4
SHG – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 4
Wins – Dov Grumet-Morris: 15
GAA – Dov Grumet-Morris: 1.93
SVP – Dov Grumet-Morris: .933

This Week:

1/6 vs. Gwinnett, 7:05 p.m., 1/7 & 1/8 at Gwinnett, 7:35 p.m. & 7:05 p.m. – Home (3-1-0), Away (2-2-0)
With four games between the clubs played in December, the Road Warriors and Gladiators have become quite familiar with one another. The Road Warriors won each of the four meetings between the clubs in December and out-scored the Gladiators by a combined score of 17-3. Including the 1-0 shutout on Dec. 17, the Road Warriors did not allow more than one goal in any game against the Gladiators last month. Like the Road Warriors, the Gladiators were very busy last week with four games in six days. They started strong with back-to-back wins against Wheeling but faltered in the final two games with a loss to the Nailers and South Carolina Stingrays each. After leading the South Division for much of the first quarter of the season, the Gladiators have struggled and enter the week in fourth place in the South with a record of 14-16-5. They are 2-7-1 over their last 10 while the Road Warriors are 7-2-1 over that same span.

Broadcast Schedule:

Thurs. 1/6: Road Warriors vs. Gladiators, 7:05 p.m.
Fri. 1/7: Road Warriors at Gladiators, 7:35 p.m.
Sat. 1/8: Road Warriors at Gladiators, 7:05 p.m.

All Road Warriors radio broadcasts can be heard online for free courtesy of America One. Point your browser to www.greenvilleroadwarriors.com and click “Listen Live” to join Ray Schmitt on the broadcasts. Road Warriors fans can also watch Internet TV broadcasts of the games by clicking here. All broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to face off with the Road Warriors Pregame Show. Fans can also email Radio Ray and have their questions read during the broadcast! Send your questions to grwradioray@gmail.com.

Last Week:

12/27 vs. S. Carolina: W 5-1

Rookie winger Chris Chappell had a breakthrough performance with a two-goal, one-assist night in Greenville’s first game back from the Christmas break. After a scoreless first period, Brandon Wong chipped home his eighth goal of the season early in the second to stake Greenville to a 1-0 lead. In the third, Chris McKelvie, Chappell, and Justin Bowers scored in succession and built the Road Warriors’ lead up to 4-0. Following a fight between T.J. Reynolds and Nate Kiser, South Carolina’s Tommy Goebel sent a shot past Dov Grumet-Morris to slice Greenville’s lead to three, but Chappell’s second of the night just 12 seconds after Goebel’s goal restored Greenville’s four-goal lead. The four-goal third period was Greenville’s most productive of the season and Grumet-Morris made 28 saves on the night to ensure it helped lead to victory.

12/29 at S. Carolina: SOW 4-3

Polar opposite first and second periods left Greenville in a hole heading into the final frame last Wednesday. Justin Bowers and Sean Berkstresser potted first period goals to put the Road Warriors in front 2-0 through 20 minutes of play. After some regrouping, South Carolina received second period goals from Josh Godfrey and Trent Campbell (2) to take its first lead of the game. Greenville went into the third trailing for just the sixth time this season looking to pull off a third-period comeback for the first time. Bowers netted the tying goal at 8:36 of the third by banking a shot off of a Stingrays’ defenseman’s leg. Greenville held on to force overtime, and Dov Grumet-Morris stole the show in the extra frame with eight saves to move on to a shootout. Mark Voakes, Brandon Wong, and Marc-Olivier Vallerand slipped shots past Todd Ford and out-dueled David de Kastrozza and Campbell who scored for the Stingrays. The win was the first shootout victory in Road Warriors history.

12/31 at S. Carolina: L 0-2

Greenville rained on the Stingrays’ parade by ending their five-game winning streak on Dec. 27 in Greenville, but on New Year’s Eve the roles were reversed. The Road Warriors came into the game riding a four-game winning streak but ran into a stifling South Carolina defense. Limited to a season-low 19 shots on goal, the Road Warriors were shutout for the first time this season by rookie goalie Jared DeMichiel. Mark Voakes had the best chance to tie it with a breakaway near the midway point of the third period, but his low shot was kicked out on a pad save by DeMichiel. Nate Kiser’s first goal of the season put South Carolina up 1-0 at 6:22 of the first and Pierre-Luc O’Brien added insurance with 19 seconds remaining in the second period. There would be no third-period dramatics for the Road Warriors this night as they managed just five shots in the third. Grumet-Morris stopped 26 shots in the loss.

1/2 vs. Wheeling: W 5-1

The Road Warriors rang in the new year in fine fashion with a solid bounce back performance against the Nailers last Sunday. Wes Cunningham’s first goal of the season opened the floodgates 1:49 into the contest. Blake Parlett and Marc-Olivier Vallerand followed to earn the Road Warriors a 3-0 lead after one. Wheeling’s Dan Henningson was able to beat Dov Grumet-Morris on a breakaway 6:30 into the second to trim the lead down to two. The third, however, belonged to the Road Warriors and they never let Wheeling back into the game. In just his second game with the team, Road Warriors defenseman Lee Baldwin scored his first goal by finishing off a 2-on-1 with Connor Shields just past the seven-minute mark. Sean Berkstresser added a power play goal with 44 seconds remaining for insurance. Grumet-Morris picked up his league-leading 15th win of the season with 28 saves.

ONE-TIMERS:
Scoring Streaks:
Goals:

·

Assists:

·    J. Brouillette, 2 games (2A); 12/10-12/11

Points:

·    J. Brouillette, 2 games (2G, 2A); 12/10-12/11

Quick Hits:

· The Road Warriors finished the month of December with a 9-2-1 record and had a four-game winning streak from Dec. 17 to Dec. 29.

· Of the 14 consecutive starts Dov Grumet-Morris has made, he has allowed one goal or fewer in nine of them. He was nominated for Goalie of the Month for December with a 9-2-1 record.

· Mark Voakes was nominated for Player of the Month for December after registering 14 points (6G, 8A) in 12 games. He had three game-winning goals in the month and now leads the team with four.

· The Road Warriors set of three games in three days this week is the first three-in-three the team has played since Nov. 24 – 26.

· Road Warriors lead the league with 23 first goals in 32 games this season. Greenville is 18-4-1 when scoring first.

Mark your calendars! Don’t forget about these upcoming promotions:
– 1/6 vs. Gwinnett, 7:05: Dollar Drink Thursday returns! Join the Road Warriors at the BI-LO Center on Thursday night and enjoy select fountain drinks and draught beers for just $1.

– 1/13 vs. Florida, 7:05: Dollar Drink Thursday returns! Join the Road Warriors at the BI-LO Center on Thursday night and enjoy select fountain drinks and draught beers for just $1.

– 1/14 vs. Gwinnett, 7:05: Friday Family Four-Pack. The Road Warriors are offering great savings with the Friday Family Four-Pack which features four gold-level tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas, four bags of chips, and four pretzels for just $48!