THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503120443
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROANOKE LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Corwin Saurdiff and Marty Schriner have been best friends for nearly a decade, but Saturday night, friendship was forgotten at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Schriner wristed the puck through Saurdiff's legs in the sudden-death portion of a shootout to lift the Roanoke Express to a 3-2 victory over the Hampton Roads Admirals.
It was a significant victory for Roanoke in several respects. The Express (38-16-6) won for a franchise-record seventh time in a row, and did so before a sellout crowd of 8,661, the largest ever to see a hockey game in the Roanoke area.
The victory extended goaltender Daniel Berthiaume's victory streak to 12 games, tying a league record. And it allowed Roanoke to strengthen its hold on the East Division lead. With 85 points, the Express leads Richmond (81) and Charlotte (77). Hampton Roads picked up a point for sending the game into overtime and is fourth with 74 points.
Saurdiff, the Admirals goaltender, and Schriner both played college hockey in the Midwest - Saurdiff for Northern Michigan and Schriner for North Dakota. They also played on the American junior national team that won a medal in Germany, and that's where they became fast friends.
``We must have played against each other nine times in college,'' Saurdiff said. ``We were teammates. He knows my moves and my habits.''
And that knowledge came handy when Schriner became the 18th skater on the ice on the shootout.
Tom Menicci scored for Hampton Roads and Derek Laxdal for Roanoke on the first two tries of the shootout, but then Saurdiff and Barthiaume combined to snuff 15 shots.
Then came Schriner. He skated quickly from center ice, faked a slap shot, then cradled the puck to his right and slipped it through Saurdiff's legs.
``Marty made a great move,'' Saurdiff said. ``It's tough that we lost, but the biggest thing was how well we played. I was really proud of the guys. We all played well.''
And they did so under duress. With Matt Mallgrave skating just a few shifts because of a sore ankle, the Admirals were down to 13 skaters, two fewer than Roanoke, and had a goaltender with a gimpy leg.
Saurdiff reaggravated an injury to his right knee at 4:48 of the second period, and wasn't as mobile as usual the rest of the game. The Express scored twice that period, including a backhand shot by Craig Herr to Saurdiff's right that a healthy Saurdiff probably would have reached.
``He knew I was hurt and that's why he put the puck where it would be toughest for me to reach it,'' Saurdiff said.
Trailing, 2-1, the Admirals rallied on a Chris Phelps slap shot from the blue line to knot the score at 8:57 of the third period.
Saurdiff made four diving saves in the five-minute overtime, and several more in the shootout - and didn't lose until he was deked by an old friend.
``It's a shame we didn't get it done in overtime because we played a great game,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said. ``Everyone skated hard and played well. We can't do more than that.'' by CNB