Mississippi Sea Wolves Official Hockey Web Site

BEAUMONT, Texas � Texas left wing Martin Masa made a great first impression in his Wildcatters debut by scoring two goals and assisting on another, helping to knock off the Mississippi Sea Wolves, 4-3.

The Sea Wolves continue to lead the Nextel Cup season series, 4 games to 1 against the Wildcatters.

�It was a good game that could have gone either way,� said Bob Woods, coach of the Sea Wolves. �We�re still not playing the same way that we were before the holidays. It�ll be good to get another chance against Texas at home on Tuesday.�

Texas (8-19-2) opened the score at the 9:34 mark of the first period. Veteran Martin Masa, acquired in a trade with Trenton yesterday, slapped a shot from the left circle. Cory Morgan beat Greg Gardner on the rebound for his eighth of the year. Lukas Smital also picked up an assist.

In the second, Mississippi (18-10-5) tied the score with the man advantage. Jeff Hutchins buried his fourth goal in the last three games and 17th of the season, getting the puck past Davis Parley at 4:26. Brent Gauvreau picked up an assist, his 150th point in his Mississippi career in his 164th Sea Wolves game (55g-95a). Steffon Walby also collected a helper.

The Wildcatters regained the lead less than two minutes later. From the left circle, Smital backhanded a shot over the right shoulder of Gardner, notching his sixth tally of the campaign. Cory Morgan had an assist on the goal.

Later in the middle stanza, Mississippi pounced on a Texas power play. Anthony Battaglia darted in on the left wing and lifted a shot into the back of the net for a shorthanded marker at 19:36. The goal for Battaglia was his seventh of the season, assisted by Sergei Kuznetsov.

Sea Wolves took the lead at 4:27 of the third. Hutchins scored his second of the game to give Mississippi a 3-2 advantage.

But the Wildcatters battled back on the power play. Masa scored his first goal in a Texas uniform at 7:24 and fourth of the season.

Sea Wolves� Travis Lisabeth hit John Snowden from behind at 15:06 and was assessed a five-minute major for boarding, plus automatic game misconduct. Snowden would be fine and returned to action later in the contest.

On the ensuing power�play, Masa tallied his second of the night on a scramble and eventual game-winner in front of the net as the puck dribbled over the line at 17:58.

Mississippi went 1-for-6 on the power play, while Texas converted on 2-of-6 opportunities. Sea Wolves outshot the Wildcatters, 39-31.

Additional Note: Sea Wolves� John Evangelista played in his 300th pro game.

The Sea Wolves return home for a 6:05 p.m. Tuesday tilt against Texas at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The holiday break special for the game includes four tickets for $44. The game can be heard beginning at 5:50 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 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 packs, discounted group tickets and fundraiser opportunities are available by calling 228-275-WOLF.

--- Box Score ---

DATE - 12/28/03 Mississippi (3) at Texas (4)

SCORE BY PERIODS
Mississippi 0 2 1--3
Texas 1 1 2--4

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Texas-Morgan 8 (Smital; Masa) 9:34. Penalties: O'Rourke, MIS (Tripping), 2:25. Guinn, TEX (High sticking), 7:01. Lawrence, TEX (Tripping), 13:53.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Mississippi-Hutchins 17 (power play) (Gauvreau; Walby) 4:26. 3, Texas-Smital 6 (Morgan) 6:16. 4, Mississippi-Battaglia 7 (short handed) (Kuznetsov) 19:36. Penalties: O'Rourke, MIS (Interference), 1:34. Masa, TEX (Interference), 2:43. Kean, MIS (Tripping), 7:30. McKay, TEX (Interference), 10:43. Lowe, TEX (Tripping), 15:23. Miller, MIS (Board check, Roughing, Double minor), 18:07. Langdone, TEX (Roughing), 18:07. Kean, MIS (Fighting, Major), 18:07. Cabana, TEX (Fighting, Major), 18:07.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Mississippi-Hutchins 18 (Rochon; Walby) 4:27. 6, Texas-Masa 1 (power play) (Smital; Stacey) 7:24. 7, Texas- Masa 2 (game winner) (power play) (Smital; Lowe) 17:58. Penalties: Walby, MIS (Tripping), 5:36. McKay, TEX (Holding), 12:17. Lisabeth, MIS (Board check, Major, Game misc.), 15:06. Parley, TEX (Slashing, Match penalty), 15:06.

SHOTS ON GOAL
Mississippi 18 12 9--39
Texas 12 13 6--31

Power Play Conversions: Mississippi - 1-of-6, Texas - 2-of-6.

Goalies: Mississippi-Gardner (31 shots, 27 saves; record: 10-8-3). Texas-Parley (39 shots, 36 saves; record: 6-8-1).

A: 2496. Referee: Koharski. Linesmen: Lundbohm; Phillips.