ROADIES RIDING THE READING 

GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors host the Reading Royals tonight at 7:05 p.m. in a battle between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. The Road Warriors split a pair of games in Reading in late January and will look to improve their lead atop the conference to three points with a win tonight.

RECAPPING THE ACTION:

3/22/11 – GRW 3 – S.C.1

The Road Warriors halted a four-game losing streak at the North Charleston Coliseum this past Tuesday with a 3-1 win that also clinched first place in the South Division. In two of those four straight losses the Road Warriors scored the first goal only to lose the lead, but on Tuesday it was South Carolina that could not sustain an early lead. rob Ricci scored 8:53 into the game and staked the ‘Rays to a 1-0 lead, but that was as far as they got. Greenville’s penalty kill shut down the Stingrays for the entirety of a five-minute boarding major to Chris Clackson and then went to work on the power play to procure its first lead of the game. Jimmy Kilpatrick’s team-leading 11th power play score evened the game at 1-1 with 8:08 gone by in the second, then Brandon Wong produced the eventual game winner at 15:18 with Greenville up a skater. Greenville’s defense then went into shutdown mode in the third and limited South Carolina to four shots while Justin Bowers provided an insurance score with 3:29 to play. Chris Beckford-Tseu won his second game as a Road Warrior with 20 saves.

3/23/11 – REA 2 – GWT 3

The Reading Royals were swept in their two-game season series against Gwinnett thanks to a 3-2 Gladiators win last night; a victory that also snapped Gwinnett’s four-game losing streak. The loss dropped Reading’s record to 6-5-3 against the South Division. Gwinnett dictated the pace of play in the first with a 13-8 shot advantage, but neither team was able to dent the scoreboard. It took until the game was over halfway over until Dustin Cameron sent home his ninth of the season at 12:09 of the second to prop Gwinnett up 1-0. That goal was part of an 18-shot barrage that Reading goalie Matt Dalton faced in the period. After the second, Dalton was replaced by Daren Machesney and he surrendered goals to Cameron 22 seconds into the period and Andy Brandt at 2:44 which proved to be the winning goal. Reading twice trimmed the deficit to one on goals by Yannick Riendeau (2:15) and Jared Ross (14:47), but Garret Zemlack’s 29 saves were enough to ensure the win for Gwinnett.

WHAT’S ON TAP FOR TONIGHT:

Tonight’s game is the third meeting of the season between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. The Road Warriors and Royals split a pair of games in January with the Road Warriors winning 4-3 in a shootout on Jan. 28 and the Royals responding with a 4-2 win the next night. Tonight’s game is the seventh, and final, non-divisional  home game of the month for the Road Warriors. They are 4-2-0 at home this month, and for the season are 8-3-0 at home against non-divisional opponents. Reading is playing the second of a four-game southern trip and entered the week with a 6-4-3 record against the South Division.
Through the early portion of their second-half schedule the Road Warriors struggled to string wins together and had a record of 6-9-0 through their first 15 games. But a win over S.C. on Feb. 18 started to turn things around and since that 3-1 victory the Road Warriors have gone 10-3-2 and have not lost by more than two goals in any game. Greenville has been lights out at home over that stretch with a 7-2-0 mark, an average of 4 goals per game, and a team goals-against average of 2.33.

– Greenville has just five losses on the season which were by more than two goals, and have won 19 games by three or more goals.

– Greenville ranks fifth in PP opportunities at 328 and sixth in PPG with 61. Road Warriors have 12 PPG in their last 9 games.

– Chris Beckford-Tseu is 2-1-0 with the Road Warriors with a 1.01 GAA and a .958 save percentage since being claimed off waivers from Victoria on 3/16/11.

– The Road Warriors are 7-2-1 over their last 10 games with an average of 3.8 goals per game and a team goals- against average of 2.60.

– After missing 51 games from Nov. 7 to Feb. 24, Matt Schepke has averaged a point per game with three goals and three assists in the month of March.

Join the Road Warriors for another Dollar Drink Thursday with select draught beers and fountain drinks on sale for just $1! It’s not too late to pick up group tickets to Thursday night’s game, either! If you have a group of 10 or more that would like to attend please call 8684-674-PUCK to speak to a Road Warriors representative. Groups who book in advance get discounts off the box office price, preferred seating based on availability, and other great benefits. The Road Warriors also offer birthday party packages and luxury suites.