THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502250353
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WHEELING, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Hobbled by injuries, depleted by callups, with only one goaltender and their morale at a year-long low, the Hampton Roads Admirals nonetheless upset the ECHL's No. 1 team Friday.
In what was surely their best defensive performance of the season, the Admirals rallied to upend the Wheeling Thunderbirds, 3-2, before a stunned Wheeling Civic Center crowd of 5,004.
It was a rare home loss for Wheeling, which leads the ECHL with a 39-13-5 record and had not lost at home in regulation in 22 games, a streak dating back to early November.
But there was bad news with the good for Hampton Roads (30-20-5). Veteran Trevor Halverson, who scored a goal and was a defensive force in front of the Admirals' net, was called up by the Portland Pirates of the AHL following the game. He will be replaced by veteran Dennis McEwen tonight when the Admirals continue their eight-game road trip at Johnstown.
The Admirals won with help from a pair of unlikely heroes. Tony MacAulay scored the game winner - his first goal in 44 outings - at 7:27 of the third period.
Shamus Gregga, who was called up from junior hockey last month as the backup goalie and had a goals against average of 5.55 in three outings since, shut out Wheeling in the game's last 37 minutes and had 35 saves, including six in the final 34 seconds. He was the only goalie for the Admirals because Todd Hunter is injured.
``Shamus just went off,'' said Admirals forward Rod Taylor. ``He had a great game.''
Yet it was a bruising defensive effort that keyed this victory, only the fifth in the last 15 games for Hampton Roads.
The Admirals asserted themselves early with dozens of crushing checks that seemed to daze the Thunderbirds, and emerged after the first period with a 1-0 lead on Halverson's goal at 17:57.
Wheeling briefly blitzed the Admirals in the second period, scoring twice in the first three minutes. Yet the defense recovered, and the Admirals dominated the rest of the way.
Taylor, who had an assist on Halverson's goal, tied the score at 10:28 of the second period on a fast-break shot set up Mike Nemirvosky's cross-ice pass.
MacAuley's game-winner was an unusal shot kissed by Lady Luck. It came after Kelly Sorensen's shot was swept into the corner by the Thunderbirds, almost parallel to the goal.
MacAulay chased down the puck, turned and fired a blind slap shot that hit the back of goaltender Marc LaMothe and bounced into the net.
``He was on the other side of the crease,'' MacAulay said. ``I was just trying to put a shot on the net.
``I got lucky.''
From there the Admirals fought to cling to the lead. With Jason MacIntyre in street clothes and George Zajankala out after the second period, both with shoulder injuries, and three players lost in the last six weeks to callups from the IHL and AHL, the Admirals were down to 13 skaters and two lines. Wheeling, meanwhile, had a full complement of 16 skaters, and bore down hard on Gregga in the final minutes.
Gregga snuffed a point-blank shot from Wheeling's Xavier Majic with two seconds left. Referee Paul Maciconda put three more seconds on the clock, but after the ensueing faceoff, the clock didn't run for several seconds and Wheeling got two more shots before the horn sounded.
At game's end, Brophy walked across the ice and pounded on the glass in front of the timekeeper. Meanwhile, several Wheeling and Hampton Roads players had begun fighting on the ice. The near-melee continued for about 10 minutes until order was restored.
``They (the Thunderbirds) are supposed to wait until we skate off the ice to come out,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said. ``Did they?''
Yet the fight didn't dim Brophy's upbeat mood.
``We've got our team back,'' he said. ``We came out hungry and aggressive. We were sticking up for each other like we always did.
``We couldn't play a better game on the road. Our guys played their hearts out.'' by CNB