ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 1997 TAG: 9702260078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
HAMPTON ROADS erupts for four third-period goals in a 5-2 ECHL victory.
The Roanoke Express had to know that a team from the beach would keep coming in wave after wave after wave. Finally, the Hampton Roads Admirals broke through like a hurricane wiping out a breakwall.
Hampton Roads' four-goal, third-period tidal wave capsized the Express 5-2 in an East Coast Hockey League game Tuesday night at the Roanoke Civic Center, where life certainly has been a day at the beach for the Tidewater terrors. The Admirals, who now lead idle South Carolina by one point atop the East Division, are 4-0 in games in Roanoke, 5-2 overall against the Express.
``We don't have nobody's number,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said when asked about his team's success in Roanoke. ``We've won 19 games on the road. We just do things right on the road.''
As did center Victor Gervais, who had a hat trick that included the goal that made it 3-2 at 4:54 of the third period.
``Gervais would not let us lose,'' said Brophy.
Hampton Roads (37-15-3), held to 14 shots on goal through two periods, teed off 13 times in the third against a shaky and shaken Larry Moberg, who started to give Dave Gagnon a day to rest his sore right knee.
While Gervais scored the game-winner, Chad Ackerman came through with a goal that may have turned the tide when he unloaded a slap shot from just inside the blue line that eluded Moberg and tied the score at 2 just 34 seconds into the third.
``A bad turnover,'' Express coach Frank Anzalone said of Ackerman's goal. ``We had talked about it in the [locker] room. `Don't throw away the puck.'''
That ignited the Admirals. Gervais scored off a rebound, then added a power-play goal at 9:27 to make it 4-2. With 3:34 left, Anzalone pulled Moberg for an extra attacker, and eight seconds later Hampton Roads' Andy Weidenbach whacked the puck all the way down the ice for an empty-netter.
That stole the spotlight from Roanoke's Jeff Jablonski, who reached the 40-goal plateau for the first time in his seven-year pro career 55 seconds into the second period by burying a centering feed from Duane Harmer, who made a smooth move to slip by two defenders at the blue line.
Gervais scored a shorthanded goal to tie it at 17:38, and Roanoke's Ilya Dubkov made it 2-1 on the power play 46 seconds later.
That was the final highlight for Roanoke (30-20-4), which was booed soundly by many in the crowd of 3,902 during the waning moments.
Hampton Roads ``does a very good job of getting our fans to boo us,'' Anzalone said, ``which is highly irregular.''
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB