
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, January 23, 1995                   TAG: 9501250029
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Staff report
DATELINE: ERIE, PA.                                LENGTH: Short

EXPRESS LETS LEAD AND GAME SLIP AWAY

Casey Hungle's bank shot off Roanoke goalie Dan Ryder with less than nine minutes to play capped a three-goal, third-period comeback as the Erie Panthers edged the Express 5-4 on Sunday afternoon in the East Coast Hockey League.

Roanoke, which led 3-1 after one period and 4-2 after two, lost for only the second time in franchise history when leading after two periods - both in the past eight days. Erie snapped a nine-game losing streak.

Tony Szabo lifted an Oleg Yashin breakaway pass over Erie goaltender Todd Chin just 55 seconds into the game to give Roanoke a 1-0 lead. Hungle tied the score barely three minutes later, backhanding home a right-corner pass from Jeff Hoad.

The Express, which scored four first-period goals Saturday night in a 5-3 victory over Johnstown, added two more quick ones Sunday.

Craig Herr backhanded home a give-and-go pass from Derek Laxdal to Chin's glove side, giving Roanoke a 2-1 lead at 8 minutes, 41 seconds, and Rouslan Toujikov scored his team-leading 11th power-play goalat 13:03.

Erie's Cam Brown cut the lead to 3-2 with another close-in backhand by Ryder, but Toujikov converted the rebound of a missed Yashin breakaway to give the Express (21-12-6) a 4-2 lead through two periods.

Defender Todd Harris scored his first goal of the season for the Panthers (14-28-2) a little more than a minute into the third to cut the lead to 4-3.

With Dave Stewart and Herr in the penalty box for tripping and interference, respectively, Stephane Charbonneau slammed home a back-door pass from ECHL scoring leader Scott Burfoot to tie the score at 4.

by CNB