ELMIRA, NY– The Greenville Road Warriors begin
the 2011 Kelly Cup Playoffs tonight with a 7:05 p.m. game against the Elmira Jackals at First Arena. The best-of-five series features the top seed Road Warriors visiting the eighth seed Jackals for the first time this season.
RECAPPING THE ACTION:
4/2/11 – GRW 7 – GWT 2
It took Greenville until the final day of the regular season, but after 72 games the Road Warriors were able to secure first place in the Eastern Conference with a big win over Gwinnett in their regular season finale. Greenville never trailed in the game and held a lead as big as 5-0 before Gwinnett finally dented the scoreboard. Shane Harper paced the Road Warriors with his second two-goal outing of the season while Wes Cunningham (2A), Brendan Connolly (1G, 1A), Chris Chappell (1G, 1A), Justin Bowers (1G, 1A), Sean Berkstresser (2A), and T.J. Reynolds (1G, 1A) all had multi-point nights. Reynolds’ goal was his first of the season and came with just 16 seconds left in the game. Nic Riopel earned his 24th win of the season with 31 saves while the Road Warriors went 2-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
4/2/11 – ELM 1 – KAL 4
The Jackals fell flat in their regular season finale and dropped a 4-1 decision to the Kalamazoo Wings at Wings Stadium. Elmira only had 15 skaters available for the game as league scoring champion Justin Donati was out with an injury. His absence had an effect on Elmira’s offense which managed just one goal on 25 shots against Wings’ goalie Ryan Nie. Yannick Tifu netted Elmira’s goal, his 28th of the season, at 10:51 of the second period and brought Elmira within one after Kalamazoo had opened a 2-0 lead. Late in the frame, though, the Wings netted two goals 2:10 apart to widen the gap to three goals and in the third limited the Jackals to just seven shots. Former South Carolina Stingray Jared DeMichiel played goal for Elmira and allowed four scores on 33 shots.
WHAT’S ON TAP FOR TONIGHT:
The Road Warriors are making their first playoff appearance while the Jackals are in the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the fourth straight year since joining the league for the 2007-08 campaign. The Road Warriors organization, which had operated in Johnstown, Pennsylvania prior to this season, last entered the playoffs in 2008 where it beat Dayton in the North Division Mini-Series 2-0 before falling to Cincinnati 4-0 in the North Division Quarterfinals. Elmira was the #3 seed last year in the American Conference and fell in five games to the #6 seed Florida Everblades.
The Greenville Road Warriors and Elmira Jackals begin their best-of-five first round playoff series tonight at First Arena in Elmira. It is Greenville’s first trip to this building, but the Road Warriors aren’t unfamiliar with the Jackals. The teams split a pair of high-scoring affairs at the BI-LO Center on March 5 and 6. The Road Warriors finished the regular season as the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 46-22-4 record while Elmira was eighth at 32-30-10. Elmira lost five straight games to close out the regular season while Greenville won each of its last six games.
This series is a classic matchup of offense versus defense. Elmira boasts the league’s top scorer in Justin Donati (94 points) and the league’s fourth-best offense at 3.45 goals per game. Greenville can score, too, but its hallmark is defense. The Road Warriors have the second-best team GAA in the league at 2.67 and were one of only two teams in the league to allow less than 200 goals on the season.
– 12 Road Warriors players are playing in the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the first time. Nine of those are rookies.
– Five of the seven first-round series in last year’s Kelly Cup Playoffs went all five games with the higher seed winning two.
– Greenville’s offense featured five different players that registered at least 50 points in the regular season. The only team with more was Kalamazoo (6).
– Nic Riopel won each of his final five starts of the regular season. It was his longest win streak of the campaign and second only to Dov-Grumet Morris’ seven straight wins from 11/18-12/5/10.
– Road Warriors were 8-for-25 (32%) on the power play and 18-for-21 (85.7%) on the penalty kill over their six-game win streak to close out the regular season.
Mark your calendars! The Road Warriors return home to take on Elmira in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Friday, April 8 at 7:05 p.m. at the BI-LO Center. There will be a pre-game block party on the plaza outside of the Charter Business entrance at the arena. The party features free food from Quaker Steak and Lube and half-priced beer to anyone with a ticket to the game. There will also be a free concert from Retro Vertigo! Individual tickets are on sale now at the BI-LO Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets. Groups of 10 or more can get discounts off the box office price and preferred seating based on availability by calling 864-674-PUCK.
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