VERSUS 
ROAD WARRIORS STUMBLE IN GAME ONE
GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors struck first but ultimately fell to the Wheeling Nailers by a 4-3 count on Thursday night at the BI-LO Center. Wheeling took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals series with Game Two scheduled for Friday night in Greenville.
The Road Warriors grabbed an early lead as they tried to win their third consecutive home playoff game. One minute and sixteen seconds into the game, Shane Harper took a centering feed from Brendan Connolly and whipped it past Wheeling goalie Peter Delmas and gave Greenville the 1-0 advantage. It was Harper’s first professional playoff goal. Wheeling bounced back well, though, and tied the game at 8:33 with a Tyler Murovich backhander that eluded Chris Beckford-Tseu. Shortly after, Greenville had a chance to reclaim the lead with a power play, but it went awry and Joey Haddad scored a shorthanded breakaway at 10:45 to put Wheeling up 2-1. Each team managed nine shots in the frame, but Delmas was one better than Beckford-Tseu.
Wheeling managed the only goal of the second period despite a 15-9 shot advantage that favored Greenville. Working low on the right wing, Tim Crowder spun a pass into the slot that Brandon DeFazio caught on his backhand. He turned the puck onto his forehand as he spun around and beat Beckford-Tseu high to the glove side at 6:09.
Greenville came out with more determination in its game to start the third period and climbed back within a goal very early on. A pass from behind the net by Justin Bowers set off a mad scramble at the net front. Marc-Olivier Vallerand slipped away from his defender and fed a backhand shot underneath Delmas and into the net at 4:46. Chris McKelvie’s fight with Alex Grant at 7:05 brought the crowd to its feet and energized Greenville’s attack. Harper had a good look from the left wing, but his shot was ruled to have hit the post and never fully crossed the goal line. Minutes after that a puck was loose behind Delmas, but Brandon Wong could not tap it home. Murovich then netted his second of the game with a long-range shot that beat Beckford-Tseu at 9:42 and restored Wheeling’s two-goal lead at 4-2. Two minutes and thirty eight seconds later Brendan Connolly forced a rebound past Delmas and drew Greenville to within one again, but despite pulling Beckford-Tseu for the extra attacker the tying goal never came.
Beckford-Tseu had 17 saves on the night while Greenville went 0-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Mark your calendars! The Road Warriors return to home ice Friday, April 15 to face Wheeling in Game Two of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals series at 7:35 p.m. at the BI-LO Center. There will be a pre-game block party at 5:00 with free food from Hoops and Hops, live music from Green Vegas, and half-priced beer. It’s also a SPINX Friday Family Four-Pack night where you can get four tickets, four hot dogs, four fountain drinks, four bags of chips, and four pretzels for just $48. There are also group tickets available for the game which feature discounted prices and preferred seating based on availability for groups of 10 or more. Call 864-674-PUCK to book your group.
