ROAD WARRIORS WEEKLY #14: 1/17/11-1/23/11 

GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors broke a season-long three-game losing streak last week but were unable to sustain the momentum and lost their next two games. This week’s schedule features four games, including three against South Division opponents which are trying to chase the Road Warriors down in the standings.

Record: 25-12-2, 52 pts., 1st place South Division

Leaders:
Goals –Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 15
Assists – Mark Voakes: 25
Points – Mark Voakes: 39
+/- – Marc-Olivier Vallerand/Connor Shields: +12
PIMs – T.J. Reynolds: 123
PPG – Mark Voakes: 5
SHG – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 4
Wins – Dov Grumet-Morris: 15
GAA – Dov Grumet-Morris: 2.25
SVP – Dov Grumet-Morris: .924

This Week:
1/17 vs. Kalamazoo (W 4-3), 1:05 p.m. – Home (1-1-0), Away (2-0-0)
The Road Warriors avenged Saturday night’s loss with a 4-3 win over Kalamazoo on Monday afternoon. The game featured the earliest start time to a home game this season, but the Road Warriors were not sluggish to start the game. After killing off a 5-on-3 for Kalamazoo that lasted 1:57, Greenville’s Mark Voakes converted a 5-on-3 goal for a 1-0 lead 10:27 into the game. The Wings’ wouldn’t let Greenville take the lead into intermission as Andrew Fournier punched home his 17th goal of the season with 29 seconds left in the period. Greenville got the goal back, and then some, with a three-goal second period. The goals were provided by Paul McIlveen (2:38), Connor Shields (5:38), and Shane Harper (8:13) as the Road Warriors grabbed a 4-1 lead and took it to the third period. Kalamazoo’s offense did its darndest to tie the game and notched two goals on 18 shots. Both goals came on the power play with Patrick Asselin (0:38) and Justin Taylor (16:02) converting. Nic Riopel’s 16 saves in the period were enough to make the lead stand up and led Greenville to its 25th win of the season.

1/21 vs. South Carolina & 1/22 at South Carolina, 7:05 p.m. & 7:05 p.m. – Home (3-1-0), Away (2-2-0)
The South Carolina Stingrays visit the BI-LO Center for the fifth time this Friday on the night of the Road Warriors’ inaugural “Pink in the Rink” event. In their most recent visit (Dec. 27) the Road Warriors slayed the Stingrays by a 5-1 score. It was Greenville’s third consecutive home win against South Carolina after dropping the first game of the season between the clubs by a 4-2 score on October 24. South Carolina comes into the game with wins in seven of its last nine games after beating Gwinnett 6-5 in a shootout on Monday afternoon. South Carolina won the most recent meeting between the clubs win a 2-0 triumph on New Year’s Eve in North Charleston.

1/23 at Gwinnett, 4:05 p.m. – Home (3-3-0), Away (2-4-0)

Gwinnett has been a major thorn in the Road Warriors’ side over the last two weeks with four consecutive wins against Greenville. The Road Warriors’ woes against Gwinett have come after their own four-game winning streak over their I-85 rivals. In those four wins Greenville had out-scored Gwinnett 17-3, but has been out-scored 18-12 over the four-game losing streak. The Gladiators came back against Greenville and scored four unanswered goals in the third period to take an 8-6 victory in the teams’ most recent meeting on January 14. This Sunday’s game will be Greenville’s fourth Sunday game in Gwinnett and they are 2-1-0 in the first three.

Day by Day:
Mon. 1/17: Road Warriors vs. Wings, 7:05 p.m. (W 4-3)
Tues. 1/18: Optional Practice at the BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Wed. 1/19: Practice at the BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Thurs. 1/20: Practice at the BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Fri. 1/21: Road Warriors vs. Stingrays, 7:05 p.m.
Sat. 1/22: Road Warriors at Stingrays, 7:05 p.m.

Sun. 1/23: Road Warriors at Gladiators, 4:05 p.m.

Day-by-Day schedule subject to change.

Broadcast Schedule:
Mon. 1/17: Road Warriors vs. Wings, 7:05 p.m. (W 4-3) – WCCP 104.9 FM
Fri. 1/21: Road Warriors vs. Stingrays, 7:05 p.m. – WCCP 104.9 FM
Sat. 1/22: Road Warriors at Stingrays, 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: (1-2-0)

Sun. 1/23: Road Warriors at Gladiators, 4:05 p.m.
Select Road Warriors game broadcasts will be heard on WCCP 104.9 FM

1/13 vs. Florida: W 4-1

Behind 26 saves from Nic Riopel and goals from four different skaters, the Road Warriors were able to snap their three-game losing streak with a win over the Florida Everblades last Thursday. A fluke shorthanded goal by Ross Carlson deflected in off of Wes Cunningham 3:41 into the game and staked Florida to a 1-0 lead. Greenville righted the ship after that and controlled for the rest of the game. Chris McKelvie tied the game at 14:01 of the first and a power play goal by Blake Parlett 1:07 later proved to be the game winner. After a scoreless second period Brandon Wong and Shane Harper added insurance goals to salt away the victory, Greenville’s seventh of the season against Florida.

1/14 vs. Gwinnett: L 6-8

In the highest scoring game the Road Warriors have played in this season their offense couldn’t keep pace with that of the Gwinnett Gladiators. The frantic pace was set by Gwinnett’s Tom Zanoski and Pat Galivan with goals 1:10 apart within the first 2:17 of game play. Greenville’s Brandon Wong accounted for two of Greenville’s three first period goals and Brad Cole added number three with 53 seconds to play in the first. With Galivan cashing in his second goal of the period at 7:27 the Gladiators had led 3-1 before the Road Warriors chipped away. Greenville owned the second with scores from Chris McKelvie (10:25), Wong (14:54), and Connor Shields (16:33). The three-goal outburst overcame Gwinnett’s 4-3 lead which was earned with Michael Forney’s goal 2:17 into the second. Greenville couldn’t maintain its momentum in the third and goals by Galivan, Zanoski, Dan Kissell, and Tim Miller. It was the second time this season Gwinnett had scored six, or more, goals in a game against Dov Grumet-Morris.

1/15 vs. Kalamazoo: L 1-2

After surrendering the first goal for five consecutive games the Road Warriors were able to strike first against Kalamazoo last Saturday. A night after recording the first hat trick in Road Warriors’ history Brandon Wong put the home team on the board at 7:56 of the first period. Despite their best efforts, the Road Warriors wouldn’t be able to beat Ryan Nie again in the game and that was troublesome. Justin Taylor netted a pair of second period goals for the Wings and the visiting Wings took that lead into the final frame. After a combined 24 shots in the first two periods, the Road Warriors managed seven in the third period and were unable to generate the tying goal. The loss was the Road Warriors first against a North Division opponent this season.

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

·    M. Voakes, 2 games (1G, 1A); 1/15-1/17

·    S. Harper, 5 games (3G, 4A); 11/18-1/17

Quick Hits:

· Sam Klassen and Chris Chappell became the 11th and 12th Road Warriors to earn an AHL call up last week when they were promoted to the Connecticut Whale.

· The Road Warriors were limited to a season-low one shot in the third period of Monday’s 4-3 win over Kalamazoo. They were out-shot 18-1 in the frame.

· After this Friday’s home game against South Carolina, the Road Warriors begin a season-long seven game road trip. The trip will span three weeks and according to Google Maps will cover 3,310 miles.

· Greenville’s 15 home victories are the most in the ECHL and their 84 goals on home ice are the second most behind only the Elmira Jackals (85).

· Mark Voakes went an entire month between his two most recent goals. He had the penalty shot winner in overtime on December 17 and didn’t tally again until Monday’s 4-3 win over Kalamazoo. He had nine assists over the 11 games he went without a goal.

Mark your calendars! Don’t forget about these upcoming promotions:
– 1/21 vs. South Carolina, 7:05: Inaugural “Pink in the Rink” game. The Road Warriors have teamed with the Mary Kay Foundation to raise money and awareness in the fight against breast cancer. Highlighting the night’s events will be the players will wear special pink-themed jerseys which will be auctioned off at the game with proceeds benefitting the Mary Kay Foundation.

– 2/18 vs. South Carolina, 7:05: Inaugural “Stop Polio Cold” game. The Road Warriors have teamed with Rotary to raise money and awareness of Rotary International’s “End Polio Now” campaign. Highlighting the night’s events will be the players wearing special Rotary-themed jerseys which will be auctioned off at the game with proceeds benefitting the Downtown Greenville Rotary Club’s efforts to raise money for the “End Polio Now” campaign.