THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503300472
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLAHASSEE, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals fought with grit and courage to extend their season Wednesday but succumbed to the same fault that had bedeviled them all year - an inability to score.
The Admirals outshot Tallahassee by a wide margin but fell to the Tiger Sharks, 2-0, and lost the first-round playoff series, three games to one.
Hampton Roads pelted Tallahassee goaltender Mark Richards with 38 shots, including 19 in a second period dominated by the Admirals. But it was late in that period when the Tiger Sharks went up 2-0, which proved to be an insurmountable margin.
The Admirals had slapped six consecutive shots at Richards when Ron Pasco took a pass at center ice and skated untouched into the Hampton Roads zone. Faced with a 2-on-1, Admirals defenseman Rob MacInnis attempted to hip-check Pasco and missed. Pasco then slipped the puck underneath Corwin Saurdiff's stick at 18:11.
Tallahassee will meet Birmingham, a first-round upset winner over Wheeling.
The Admirals ended their season with a first-round playoff loss for the second time in three years.
Hampton Roads was 13th in the ECHL in scoring during the regular season and managed to win 37 games largely with a gritty defense. Making matters worse was the loss of top scorer John Porco, felled with a broken collarbone in an overtime loss to the Tiger Sharks on Tuesday.
The Admirals tried gamely to compensate. For much of two periods they controlled the puck, limiting play for the most part to the Tallahassee zone. Pucks hit the post, the cross bar and, especially, Richards. Several missed thenet by inches. But none went in.
``We should have had 10 goals, the way we played,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said. ``The puck just wouldn't go in the net.''
Tallahassee, meanwhile, took a 1-0 lead on one of the Admirals' few mistakes. Saurdiff was trying to clear the puck when Greg Geldart, unseen by the Admirals' goaltender, sneaked from behind him and blocked the puck. Saurdiff was knocked to the ice, the puck was in front of the net and Pasco was there waiting. He wristed it in at 5:28 of the first period.
Hampton Roads had no chance to rally early in the third period, when a pair of penalties put Tallahassee on a power play for 3:53. At one point the Admirals were outmanned 5-to-3 and defenseman Brian Goudie was without a stick. It had broken in two as he was crossing sticks with a Tiger Shark.
The Admirals' defense nonetheless prevented Tallahassee from scoring. Problem was, the Admirals couldn't score, either.
Hampton Roads got a power play at 16:49, then pulled Saurdiff at 18:43, but Richards blocked everything thrown at him to record his first shutout of the season.
``The guy just played a great game,'' Tallahassee coach Terry Christensen said. ``He won the game for us. But we were lucky, too. They had a lot of good shots, and a number of them could have gone in.''
The contest was physical, but not nearly as much as Tuesday's, when the philosophy of referee Paul Mariconda appeared to be no broken bones, no foul - and in Porco's case even that wasn't enough.
But Wednesday, referee Chris Cozzan called 35 penalties, including 10-minute misconducts on Goudie and Jason MacIntyre. The gentler pace seemed to favor the Tiger Sharks, who had nine power plays.
At game's end, Goudie skated after Cozzan and had to be restrained by three teammates. He was assessed a game misconduct.
Meanwhile, both teams lined up for the traditional handshakes that end a playoff series.
Minutes later, tears flowed in the Admirals' locker room.
``Our guys came down here and played their tails off for two games,'' Brophy said. ``They played their hearts out.
``It's a damn shame we didn't win.''
Hampton Roads 0 0 0 - 0
Tallahassee 1 1 0 - 2
First Period-1, Tallahassee, Pasco 3 (Geldart), pp, 5:28. Penalties-Haddock, T (hooking), 2:28; Majic, HR (slashing), 4:04; Osiecki, T (elbowing), 6:35; MacInnis, HR (roughing), 9:19; Goudie, HR (roughing), 9;19; MacIntyre, HR 10-minute misconduct, minor (roughing); Rierden, T (roughing), 9:19; Dumas, T (roughing), 9:19; Haddock, T (roughing), 9:19; Phelps, HR (hooking), 10:14; Goudie, HR (roughing), 11:54; Parsons, T (slashing), 11:54; Nemirovsky, HR (slashing), 12:13; Tallahassee, bench minor (too many men on the ice), 12:13; Zdanovskiy, T (elbowing, 13:20.
Second Period-2, Tallahassee, Pasco 4 (Uniac), 18:11. Penalties-Taylor, HR (roughing), 3:58; Rierden, T (roughing), 3:38; MacInnis, HR (roughing), 5:31; Goudie, HR (high-sticking), 10-minute misconduct; Dumas, T (holding the stick), 8:44; Rierden, T (boarding), 10:35; Lavinish, T (holding the stick), 13:41; MacInnis, HR (roughing), 19:48; Parsons, T (roughing, 19:48.
Third Period-No scoring. Penalties-Taylor, HR (roughing), 5:30; MacInnis, HR (high-sticking), 5:48; Uniac, T (tripping), 8:21; Haddock, T (hooking), 16:49; Majic, HR (roughing), 10-minute misconduct, 19:29; Dumas, T (roughing), 19:29; Goudie, HR game-misconduct, 20:00.
Goaltending-Hampton Roads, Saurdiff (1-3), 30 shots, 28 saves; Tallahassee, Richards (3-1), 30-30. Shots on goal-Hampton Roads, 11-19-8-38; Tallahassee, 6-13-11-30. Power play opportunities-Hampton Roads, 0-of-5; Tallahassee, 1-of-9. Time-3:00. Officials-Cozzan (referee), Combs, Bennet. Attendance-.4,478. by CNB