ROAD WARRIORS WEEKLY #18: 2/14/11 – 2/20/11 

GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors won one of their three games last week and remained atop the South Division standings entering a huge four-game week this week. Each game this week is against division rival South Carolina which enters the week three points behind the Road Warriors in the standings.

Record: 30-18-2, 62 pts., 1st place South Division

Leaders:
Goals – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 17

Assists – Mark Voakes: 33

Points – Mark Voakes: 48

+/- – Connor Shields: +15

PIMs – T.J. Reynolds: 150

PPG – Jimmy Kilpatrick: 7

SHG – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 4

Wins – Dov Grumet-Morris: 15

GAA –Dov Grumet-Morris: 2.32

SVP – Dov Grumet-Morris: .922

This Week:
2/15, 2/20 at South Carolina, 7:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. & 2/18, 2/19 vs. South Carolina, 7:05 p.m., 7:05 p.m. – Home (3-3-0), Away (2-3-0)

In the most recent installment of the Palmetto State Rivalry, South Carolina took control of the season series with a 2-1 win in the BI-LO Center on Feb. 9. The Stingrays joined the Gwinnett Gladiators as the only two teams in the ECHL with a winning record against Greenville. The Road Warriors will try to improve on that mark this week with four consecutive games against the ‘Rays. Overall, the Road Warriors have lost four games in a row against South Carolina dating back to Dec. 31, 2011 by a combined score of 14-5. South Carolina and Greenville have been near mirror images of one another over the last 10 games with the Road Warriors holding a 5-5-0 record and the Stingrays at 5-4-1. This week could prove to be critical in Greenville’s bid for the South Division crown as only two games (both on the road) remain against South Carolina after Sunday evening’s contest.

Day by Day:
Mon. 2/14: Practice at BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Tues. 2/15: Road Warriors at Stingrays, 7:00 p.m.

Wed. 2/16: Practice at BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.

Thurs. 2/17: Practice at BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Fri. 2/18: Road Warriors vs. Stingrays, 7:05 p.m.
Sat. 2/19: Road Warriors vs. Stingrays, 7:05 p.m.

Sun. 2/20: Road Warriors at Stingrays, 4:00 p.m.

Day-by-Day schedule subject to change.
Broadcast Schedule:
Tues. 2/15: Road Warriors at Stingrays, 7:00 p.m.

Fri. 2/18: Road Warriors vs. Stingrays, 7:05 p.m.
Sat. 2/19: Road Warriors vs. Stingrays, 7:05 p.m.

Sun. 2/20: Road Warriors at Stingrays, 4:00 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)

2/9 vs. South Carolina: L 1-2

In a tight, defensive struggle the South Carolina offense mustered just enough production to take down the Road Warriors last Wednesday. After a scoreless first period, the Road Warriors found themselves in penalty trouble early on in the second period. A lengthy 5-on-3 power play didn’t produce any goals for the Stingrays, but did give them offensive momentum. That momentum finally generated a goal from Jake Hauswirth at 9:15 of the middle frame. Greenville went into the third down one, but tied it with Marc-Olivier Vallerand’s team-leading 17th goal of the season 2:55 in. But the score didn’t stay that way long and just 16 seconds after Vallerand’s goal, South Carolina’s Tommy Goebel restored the Stingrays’ one-goal lead. Despite pulling Nic Riopel for the extra attacker with 1:20 left to play, Greenville could not generate the tying goal.

2/11 at Toledo: W 4-3 OT

In the first-ever meeting between the Road Warriors and Walleye, Greenville found itself trying to battle out of an early hole thanks to Toledo’s quick start. Goals by Andy Bombach (3:02) and Dominic Osman (4:51) before the first period was five-minutes old had the Road Warriors playing catch up and the journey down the comeback trail began with Sam Klassen’s second professional goal at 9:36 of the first. The lone goal in the second period went to the Road Warriors thanks to Jimmy Kilpatrick’s power play tally at 10:59. With the game tied at the start of the third period, Brandon Wong capitalized on a turnover and scored 44 seconds in to give Greenville its first lead of the night. Evan Rankin, though, prevented a Greenville win in regulation by slapping a shot past Nic Riopel with 9:09 left to play. The Road Warriors wasted no time in overtime; scoring on their first shot to come away with the win. Shane Harper was sprung on a breakaway by Connor Shields and hit the back of the net 27 seconds in.

2/12 at Kalamazoo: L 5-8

The Road Warriors could not keep the Wings’ offense in check in their final game against Kalamazoo this season. Two first period goals by Trent Daavettila and one by Justin Taylor put the Wings up 3-0 going into the first intermission. The lead would have been greater but Nic Riopel denied Andrew Fournier’s penalty shot 1:29 into the game. In the second, Kory Karlander and Darryl Lloyd built Kalamazoo’s lead to 5-0 before Shane Harper hit paydirt on a 4-on-3 power play 12:28 into the period. Daavetilla capped his hat trick at 16:17 of the second with a power play goal and Connor Shields netted a goal for the Road Warriors with 37 seconds left in the period to cap the scoring in the second. Jimmy Kilpatrick breathed some life into a Road Warriors comeback attempt with his 10th goal of the season 3:29 into the third, but the Wings dashed those hopes with goals by Lloyd and Karlander. Chris Clackson netted his first as a Road Warrior with 1:02 left in regulation and Blake Parlett produced the final score for the Road Warriors with 45 seconds left in regulation to set the final score.

ONE-TIMERS:
Scoring Streaks:
Goals:

·    J. Kilpatrick, 2 games (2G); 2/11-2/12

·    S. Harper, 2 games (2G); 2/11-2/12

Assists:

·    B. Parlett, 2 games (3A); 2/11-2/12

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

·    C. Shields, 2 games (3A); 2/11-2/12

·    M. Voakes, 2 games (3A); 2/11-2/12

Points:

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

·    B. Parlett, 2 games (1G, 2A); 2/11-2/12

·    J. Kilpatrick, 2 games (2G, 1A); 2/11-2/12

·    M. Voakes, 2 games (3A); 2/11-2/12

·    C. Shields, 2 games (1G, 2A); 2/11-2/12

·    B. Wong, 2 games (1G, 1A); 2/11-2/12

·    S. Harper, 2 games (2G); 2/11-2/12

Quick Hits:

· Connor Shields’ assist on Shane Harper’s OT winner on Feb. 11 was his 100th ECHL point.

· Blake Parlett matched a career high with three points (1G, 2A) on Feb. 12 at Kalamazoo and now is tied for the lead in points by a defenseman with 30 (7G, 30A).

· Six of the last nine games the Road Warriors have played in have been decided by one goal (5-1-0). The Road Warriors are 11-5-2 overall in one-goal games this season.

· Greenville has the fourth-best home defense in the league with 61 goals against and the fifth best home offense with 88 goals for.

· The Road Warriors have 12 games remaining against South Division opponents (5 home, 7 away) and 10 games combined remaining against the North/Atlantic Divisions (7 home, 3 away).

Mark your calendars! Don’t forget about these upcoming promotions:

– 2/18 vs. South Carolina, 7:05: Join us as the Road Warriors and Rotary Club of Greenville team up to “Stop Polio Cold.” Specialty jerseys will be worn, and auctioned off, proceeds from the night’s ticket sales and chuck-a-puck sales will be donated to Rotary’s “End Polio Now” campaign, and much more is on tap.

– 2/19 vs. South Carolina, 7:05: The Road Warriors will hold their first ever Boy Scout Night at the BI-LO Center which features a post-game movie on the video board and overnight camping at the arena! The scouts who come out can even get a Road Warriors patch.

2/22 vs. Gwinnett, 7:05: This is the make-up date for the postponed game from December 14. The Road Warriors will be offering their “Twofer Tuesday” deal which gets you two blue-level tickets, two hot dogs, two boxes of popcorn, and two sodas for just $30!