ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 30, 1996 TAG: 9610300070
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
Shootouts can be a lot like trick or treat. A hockey team never knows what it will get.
The Roanoke Express must feel like its front door just got egged and its yard was used as ground zero for a toilet-paper bomb after a 3-2 shootout loss to the South Carolina Stingrays on Tuesday night at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Doing the egging and papering were Scott Boston and David Seitz, who scored goals for the Stingrays (4-0-0) while South Carolina's masked man, John McKersie, stopped the Express at the doorstep, just like Albert Belle facing down a group of unwelcome trick-or-treaters.
The loss was the fourth in a row for Roanoke, although it did earn a point in the East Coast Hockey League's East Division standings by advancing to a shootout with two third-period goals. Still, that was like hoping to find a candy bar in a Halloween sack and getting a box of prunes instead. The Express is 1-4-1 as it heads to Norfolk for a game tonight against the Hampton Roads Admirals.
``It's a scary start,'' said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. ``We'll keep pecking away. We really needed a win. The emotion from winning a shootout would have helped.''
The Express trailed 2-0 after two periods before goals by Tim Christian and Jeff Loder tied it in the third. Although Halloween still is a day away, it appeared supernatural forces were conspiring against the Express, as the Stingrays scored a first-period goal on a pass that hit a Roanoke player's skate and the Express was denied the go-ahead goal in the third when referee Mark Riley blew the whistle just before Loder scored.
``We're not getting any puck luck,'' Anzalone said. ``None at all. Of course, we're not creating any puck luck.''
Roanoke, which outshot the Stingrays 35-26, needed it against McKersie, who won his first start as a professional by turning aside 33 shots.
``I thought he played great,'' said coach Rick Vaive, whose Stingrays beat Roanoke 4-1 on Saturday and plays the Express again in four days. ``Roanoke looked like a different team than the one we played Saturday. I'll bet they didn't have eight scoring chances Saturday. Tonight they had between 15 and 20.''
But the Express couldn't find the back of the net and trailed 1-0 despite outshooting South Carolina 18-7 in the first period.
Just after an Express power play ended - Roanoke was 0-for-7 with a manpower advantage - the Stingrays converted their own power-play opportunity when Marc Tardiff's pass hit Roanoke defenseman Doug Searle's skate and slipped into the net. In the second, South Carolina's Rob Concannon converted a Boston assist with a shot that skimmed off a South Carolina player's leg and eluded luckless goalie Dave Gagnon.
``One went off our skate and one went off their leg,'' said Express left wing Jeff Jablonski. ``Unbelievable.''
Jablonski helped the Express get back into it in the third with two assists. Christian scored on a tough-angle shot 44 seconds into the third period, and Loder scored at 6:17 by taking a fancy between-the-skates drop pass from Jablonski and beating McKersie through the pads.
``We worked hard to come back,'' Jablonski said. ``We outplayed them the whole game and only got a point. It's still a big point.''
Loder shot the puck into the net again with 9:19 left, but Riley blew the whistle before the shot because the net had been knocked off its moorings.
In the shootout, McKersie stopped Bobby Brown, Loder, Chris Lipsett and Jablonski. Gagnon denied Mike Ross, Jeff Romfo and Ed Courtney before Boston faked and scored in the fourth round and Seitz netted a backhand shot to clinch it in the fifth.
``I'm not sure what is or isn't coming together at this point,'' Anzalone said. ``I don't know what direction we're headed. I know where we are, we're at the bottom. Hopefully, it'll get better from here.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. Stingrays goalie John McKersie (left)by CNBdenies Express forward Tim Christian on Tuesday night.