VERSUS 
GREENVILLE, SC – It took the Greenville Road Warriors just over 86 minutes of play, but they earned a 2-1 win in double overtime on Saturday night and won their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series over Elmira three games to one. Sean Berkstresser scored the winning goal at 6:22 of the second overtime.
In each of the first three games of the series, the team that scored first ended up winning, so it didn’t bode well for Greenville when Yannick Tifu put a slap shot past Chris Beckford-Tseu 9:29 into the first period. It was Tifu’s second goal of the series and was set up by Ryan Hillier and Justin Donati. From there, though, Beckford-Tseu battened down the hatches and held Elmira’s potent offense at bay. Greenville was given a good opportunity to tie the score when Drew Paris took the game’s first penalty at 12:52 of the first. Shots were hard to come by, though, on the advantage and Greenville could not climb even. Elmira’s Marco Cousineau made nine saves in the first to ensure his team stayed in front.
After failing to dent the scoreboard in the first, Greenville wasted little time going to work in the second. Sam Klassen, who came into the game with a two-game goal streak, sent a wrist shot from the right point that was deflected by Andrew Rowe into the net. The goal came just 58 seconds into the period and was Rowe’s first career playoff goal. Jimmy Kilpatrick earned the secondary assist. Moments later, Elmira had a glorious chance to re-take the lead, but Marc-Olivier Vallerand committed a holding penalty to wipe out a potential Jackals breakaway. Greenville killed off the ensuing power play and remained on even footing with the Jackals. A Chris Frank roughing minor put the Road Warriors on their final power play of the evening with 12:45 left in the second, but it didn’t translate into a goal. Cousineau turned in 10 saves in the frame for Elmira while Beckford-Tseu notched six for the Road Warriors.
The third period was controlled largely by the Road Warriors and if it wasn’t for the Herculean effort of Cousineau the game may have never made it to overtime. Of his 13 saves, the best came late in the frame with tons of traffic in front of the net. A Shane Harper shot from high on the left wing went to the net hard and low and was tipped by Brendan Connolly at the edge of the crease. But before it could come close to crossing the line, Cousineau reached up to catch it with his trapper. Beckford-Tseu matched Cousineau’s 13 third-period saves with seven of his own to send the game to overtime.
In the first extra session, the Road Warriors were dominant for much of the time. One would understand if they became frustrated as they peppered Elmira’s net with 13 more shots, but none were able to squeeze past Cousineau. Berkstresser had a great look about midway through the overtime on a drop pass in the high slot. He hammered a one-timer on net as hard as he could, but Cousineau took the shot to the chest and did not allow for a rebound. Beckford-Tseu was tested four times in the session and did not allow a score. It was an offensive zone faceoff early in the second overtime that set up Greenville’s winning score. Chris McKelvie, Friday night’s hero, won the draw forward in the right wing circle and Berkstresser came crashing through to slap a shot past a stunned Cousineau.
Beckford-Tseu won his second straight start with 26 saves on the night. Greenville went 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Mark your calendars! The Road Warriors will open their Eastern Conference semifinals series with the Wheeling Nailers on Thursday, April 14 at the BI-LO Center at 7:35 p.m. Game Two will be the following night with a 7:35 p.m. start time as well. Individual tickets for those games are on sale now through Ticketmaster outlets and will be available at the BI-LO Center Box Office beginning Monday, April 11 at 10:00 a.m. Group tickets for groups of 10 or more will be available as well. Groups get discounts off the box office price and preferred seating based on availability. Call 864-674-PUCK to book a group outing with the Road Warriors.
