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jevers
Administrator
USA
1367 Posts |
 Posted - 04/28/2010 : 10:08:32 PM
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CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - Cincinnati Cyclones forward Mark Van Guilder had a pair of goals and Jeremy Smith stopped 33 shots in giving the club a 2-1 win over the Charlotte Checkers on Wednesday night.
With the win, the Cyclones capture this series, four games to three and will advance to the American Conference Finals for the third straight season. Their opponent in the third round of the USA Collision Center playoff run will be the Reading Royals. A full listing of the playoff dates and times will come in a press release later this evening. The series will begin Friday night (April 30) at U.S. Bank Arena at 7:30pm.
The win also was the 37th in the postseason in four years for Cyclones Head Coach Chuck Weber. The triumph puts him in sixth place alone on the ECHL's career playoff wins list. No mentor in the 22 year history of the ECHL has won 37 games in his first four seasons as a coach. In fact, only Davis Payne (previously with Alaska from 2003-04 through 2006-07) has had more wins in any four year window (38) than Weber.
In the 20th Game Seven in ECHL history, the Cyclones extended their record by participating in their fifth contest. The home team has assembled a 13-7 record in these games and Cincinnati is 3-2 in these showdowns.
The Cyclones got the only goal of the first period when Mark Van Guilder stuffed in a backhand shot from the right goal post at 12:46. Van Guilder's first score of the postseason came from Maxime Lacroix and Jimmy Kilpatrick. Cincinnati outshot the Checkers, 11-4, in the opening term. It was the first time in twelve postseason games that the Cyclones led after a period of play.
Cincinnati pushed the lead to 2-0 when Van Guilder collected his second goal of the night and ripped a rebound past netminder Ryan Munce. On the power play, Brett Motherwell fired a shot from the blueline that banged off the left goal post and went to Van Guilder halfway between the goalline and the bottom of the left circle. Jimmy Kilpatrick had the second assist. It was Cincinnati's second power play goal in 28 chances away from U.S. Bank Arena in the playoffs. The Checkers got a score at 16:51 from Mike Taylor on the right wing side, his sixth of the postseason. The shots favored Charlotte, 16-8, in the period.
There was no scoring in the third period, but Charlotte had a power play with 2:57 to go, and by pulling goaltender Munce latewas able to have at least a man-advantage the rest of the way. Smith turned away all 14 shots in the period to secure his seventh win of the postseason. Cincinnati was outshot, 34-22, for the game.
Smith stopped 33 shots on the night and Munce redirected 20 shots in the loss. The Cyclones were one for three on the power play, while holding Charlotte scoreless in five tries.
Charlotte won the South Division title and American Conference regular season championship by posting a 43-21-8 record. The Checkers were a conference-best 25-8-3 in games at the Time Warner Cable Arena. Charlotte was the number one seed in the conference playoffs and knocked out Toledo in the opening round of the postseason in four games. Cincinnati finished as runner-up in the North Division with a 44-25-3 record and upended the fourth-seeded and defending Kelly Cup champion South Carolina Stingrays in five games. The Cyclones are the fifth-seeded team in these American Conference playoffs. Cincinnati is the only team in the ECHL to have advanced to the second round of the Kelly Cup playoffs in each of the past four seasons.
The Cyclones become only the third team in ECHL history to advance to the league semifinals three straight seasons. Only Greensboro (1989-90-91) and Alaska (2004-05-06) have accomplished the feat in the 22-year history of the league.
Tickets for the 2010-11 Cincinnati Cyclones season are now on sale, as will as games in the American Conference Finals round once the team advances. The Cyclones Sales Department can be reached at 513-421-PUCK, extension 3. All road Kelly Cup playoff games will be carried on ESPN 1530 and on the club's website at: www.cycloneshockey.com.
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