THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 3, 1994 TAG: 9411030556
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
John Porco got his first hat track for the Hampton Roads Admirals, and Kelly Sorensen added two goals and an assist.
But the most courageous performance for the Admirals in Wednesday's 5-4 victory over Johnstown may have come from defenseman Brian Goudie.
Playing most of the third period in pain, Goudie twice rode Johnstown players into the boards on breakaways and slapped the puck away numerous times to help preserve the Admirals' victory.
Goudie's jersey was covered in blood from a first-period fight in which he squared off with Johnstown's Brandan Christian.
Both players got in plenty of licks in a two-minute confrontation that brought the crowd of 5,793 to its feet, though Goudie appeared to come out slightly ahead.
``That was a great fight, one of the heavyweights,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said. ``It's a shame Brian has to give away 40 ------- pounds to that lummox.''
Goudie needed stitches to close cuts under both eyes. In the second period, he twisted his back and winced with pain each time he hit the ice.
``He played hard,'' Brophy said. ``So did No. 10 (Tom Menicci), especially at the end.''
The victory was the second in a row for the Admirals (4-3-1) and came in the second of five games in a six-day span. The competition gets tougher from here on out - games Friday (at home) and Saturday (on the road) against Charlotte, and Sunday at Richmond.
As in the Admirals' 5-4 victory over Raleigh on Tuesday, Hampton Roads took a big lead, then relaxed.
Porco scored at 2:46 of the first period, and Sorensen followed with goals at 7:46 and 12:21 to give the Admirals a 3-0 lead.
The Admirals led, took a 4-1 lead late in the second period when Porco attempted to center a pass from the right circle. However, the puck bounced off Johnstown's Dan Sawyer and into the net, unseen by goaltender Aaron Israel.
``I was trying to keep the puck in front of the net,'' Porco said. ``It shouldn't have gone in, but I'll take it.''
Porco's third goal came at 18:30. The Admirals led, 4-3, and were pummeling Israel with shots when the puck bounced to Porco at the blue line. He sent a hard slap shot past Israel for what proved to be the game-winner.
Johnstown rallied 49 seconds later with a power-play goal from Ted Dent to cut the lead to 5-4. It was the third power-play goal of the game for Johnstown, which leads the league in power-play percentage.
But the Admirals' defense finally held firm in the game's final 41 seconds.
``We were giving up second and third shots,'' Brophy said with a shrug. ``But that's OK. We won the hockey game. It's worth two points. We've won the last two, and that sets us up for Friday and Saturday.''
Goudie said the Admirals need to shake their propensity to let down after taking a big lead.
``When we have a team down, 4-1, we shouldn't let them back in the game,'' he said. ``We're making games too close. We should bury teams when we're up, 4-1, at home.
``We stopped skating tonight when we got the lead. We made penalties that killed us. We knew coming in Johnstown has a great team on power plays.
``We've got to capitalize when we've got the lead or else we're going to start losing those games.''
But not on Wednesday.
``Things are picking up a bit as far as the team wanting to win and work hard,'' Brophy said.
``We have some spots where people are doing funny things yet, but that may be because they're not playing with a lot of confidence.
``But the more we win, the easier it will come for them, and right now we're winning.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI
The Admirals' Brian Goudie was given the decision in his
first-period bout with Johnstown's Brandan Christian.
by CNB