Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 1, 1991 TAG: 9103010346
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sparked by unlikely hero Gary Callaghan's three goals and three assists, the Rebels kept their simmering East Coast Hockey League playoff hopes alive with a 7-4 victory over Louisville on Thursday night at the LancerLot.
The victory was the Rebels' first since Feb. 2, halting a season-high seven-game losing streak.
"Those 26 days seem like 26 years," said relieved Rebels coach Claude Noel. "It's nice to win a game. It gives us some hope. If we'd lost tonight, well . . . "
Well, the season would have been history.
"There would have been no use to go to Greensboro [tonight] if we had lost this one," said forward Brian Bellefeuille. "It's nice to win, but you can't still look at this and say we're out of [the slump]. We've got a lot of work to do yet."
Roanoke Valley (23-27-7) still trails Erie by four points in the chase for the eighth and final ECHL playoff spot.
The Rebels have seven games left - two at home and five on the road. They can afford few slips, if any, if they expect to make the playoffs.
"We haven't sat down and said, `We have to win six, we have to win five of the seven,' " said Steve Gatzos. "But this win gives us a chance. We know we've got to win some games, that's all."
The Rebels won this one in the first 20 minutes, rushing to a 4-1 lead. Callaghan, who had only two assists in 11 games since joining the club, scored two of the goals and set up Bellefeuille's power-play goal directly off a faceoff.
"It's about time. This is the worst scoring drought I've ever been in," said Callaghan, who prospered immediately by moving onto the club's No. 1 line with Bellefeuille and Gatzos. "Playing with those guys, you're going to get the puck. It was up to me to pull my weight."
After the furious first period, the Rebels fell back into the slow-motion mode in the second. They were outshot 22-7 and escaped the period with a 5-3 lead.
When Louisville's Kelly Ens made it 5-4 at 6:21 of the third period, it appeared the Rebels might fold again.
But this time, they didn't. Veteran Greg Neish put away the game with 3:34 to play with his second goal of the game.
Callaghan recorded the club's fourth hat trick of the season when he put in an empty-net goal with 31 seconds left.
\ ICE CHIP: The Rebels travel to Greensboro tonight and return home to face Winston-Salem on Saturday.
see microfilm for box score
by CNB