Mississippi Sea Wolves Official Hockey Web Site

PENSACOLA, Fla. � The Mississippi Sea Wolves exploded with five unanswered goals in the third period to upend the Pensacola Ice Pilots, 6-3.

The win gives Mississippi an unbeaten streak of 10 (9-0-1), including four straight wins and six consecutive wins on the road.

The victory also moves the Sea Wolves into a tie for first place in the ECHL with 39 points, along with Florida and Gwinnett.

�It was a great way to head into the holidays,� said Sea Wolves coach Bob Woods. �Once the flood gates opened we really got to Pensacola. It was nice to get production from six different scorers. We still have a lot of work to do, but we can enjoy our break and get back at it (against Columbus) Friday.�

Pensacola (15-8-4) opened the score at the 6:33 mark of the first period. Dwayne Hay, assigned by Hershey of the American Hockey League earlier in the day, scooped up his own rebound and deposited his ninth of the year on a backhand shot getting it by Greg Gardner.

At 11:10 of the opening period, the Ice Pilots went up 2-0. Rookie Jim Abbott re-directed a point shot from Andreas Holmqvist on the power-play. The goal for Abbott was his 16th of the season.

In the second, Mississippi (17-8-5) solved Pensacola goaltender Brian Eklund at 6:38. Anthony Battaglia went to the backhand and beat Eklund in close on the Sea Wolves 26th shot of the game. Battaglia�s sixth of the season was assisted by Travis Lisabeth and Austin Miller.

Pensacola regained its two-goal lead with the man advantage. Hay snapped a shot on net from the slot, rookie Brian Collins pounced on the rebound and potted his 11th tally of the year, giving Pensacola a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes.

In the third period, Lisabeth re-directed a Patrick Rochon shot to close the gap to within one. It was Lisabeth's fourth goal in the last three games and seventh of the season.

Mississippi kicked its comeback into high-gear, scoring four goals in a span of 2:43. Kerry Ellis-Toddington rifled a right circle shot by Eklund at 14:07 to tie the score 3-3 on his third of the year.

Just 19 seconds later, Steffon Walby moved in at the right circle and bulged the twine with a laser of a wrist shot for his 18th of the campaign and eventual game-winner.

Louis Dumont converted at the side of the net for his 15th of the year at 15:42 to give Mississippi insurance.

Then Brent Gauvreau finished off a 2-on-1 break with Jeff Hutchins, who was returned by Houston of the AHL earlier in the day, to score his 15th of the season at 16:50.

Mississippi failed to score on three power play opportunities, while Pensacola converted on 2-of-4 chances. Sea Wolves outshot the Ice Pilots, 52-24.

The Sea Wolves get back into action at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Columbus, Georgia to face the Cottonmouths. Listen live starting at 6:15 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at www.msseawolves.com.

The Sea Wolves next home game is at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday against Pensacola at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Promotions include $5 tickets for students and Teacher Appreciation Night, courtesy of Cellular South and WXXV Fox 25. There are also $2 drafts and $2 hotdogs from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The game can be heard beginning at 7:20 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at www.msseawolves.com.

Individual game tickets can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all TicketMaster locations and by calling 228-594-3707.

Flex plans, discounted group tickets and fundraiser opportunities are available by calling 228-275-WOLF.

--- Box Score ---

DATE - 12/21/03 Mississippi (6) at Pensacola (3)

SCORE BY PERIODS
Mississippi 0 1 5--6
Pensacola 2 1 0--3

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Pensacola-Hay 9 (Sauer) 6:33. 2, Pensacola-Abbott 16 (power play) (Holmqvist; Beechey) 11:10. Penalties: Soucy, PEN (Elbowing), 3:18. Lisabeth, MIS (High sticking), 6:51. Dumont, MIS (Hooking), 10:34. Soucy, PEN (Tripping), 14:37. Sauer, PEN (Fighting, Major), 15:41. Hutchins, MIS (Fighting, Cross checking, Major), 15:41. Sauer, PEN (Hooking), 15:41. Neilson, PEN (Roughing), 16:23. Beechey, PEN (Slashing), 19:15. Cava, MIS (Slashing), 19:15.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Mississippi-Battaglia 6 (Miller; Lisabeth) 6:38. 4, Pensacola-Collins 11 (power play) (Neilson; Hay) 17:53. Penalties: Herrington, PEN (Tripping), 2:10. Neilson, PEN (Cross checking), 3:53. Lisabeth, MIS (Board check), 16:26.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Mississippi-Lisabeth 7 (Rochon) 2:55. 6, Mississippi-Ellis-Toddington 3 (Evangelista; Blais) 14:07. 7, Mississippi-Walby 18 (game winner) (Baxter) 14:26. 8, Mississippi- Dumont 15 (O'Rourke; Kuznetsov) 15:42. 9, Mississippi-Gauvreau 15 (Hutchins; Baxter) 16:50. Penalties: O'Rourke, MIS (Slashing), 9:41.

SHOTS ON GOAL
Mississippi 16 15 21--52
Pensacola 7 8 9--24

Power Play Conversions: Mississippi - 0-of-3, Pensacola - 2-of-4.

Goalies: Mississippi-Gardner (24 shots, 21 saves; record: 10-6-3). Pensacola-Eklund (52 shots, 46 saves; record: 14-5-3).

A: 3095. Referee: Banfield. Linesmen: Jones; Stanton.