COLUMBUS, Ga. � Mississippi�s Greg Gardner made a season-high 45 saves, playing in his first game in two weeks, backstopping Mississippi to a 5-1 victory over Columbus and halting the Cottonmouths 10-game unbeaten streak at 9-0-1.

The win gives the Sea Wolves three straight wins and allows Mississippi to remain in first place in the Central Division with 50 points, while Columbus sits in fifth with 39 points.

�It was another great team effort on the road,� said Sea Wolves coach Bob Woods. �We�re getting solid goaltending and spreading around the goals with five different goal scorers. It was a big weekend for us, winning all three road games over three days.�

Mississippi (22-11-6) opened the score on the power play at 5:38 of the first period. ECHL All-Stars Steffon Walby and Brent Gauvreau combined for a tally. Walby fed a pass from the left circle in front for a streaking Gauvreau, who tipped the puck through Jason Tapp for his 17th goal of the season. Jim Baxter, who was playing in his 300th pro game, also picked up an assist.

Columbus (18-18-3) replied with the man advantage at 7:37. Carlyle Lewis whipped a pass from the half boards in front to Colin Pepperall, who fired a one-timer in the slot past Greg Gardner. The game for Gardner was his first in two weeks, after being reassigned by Rochester of the American Hockey League earlier in the day.

At 16:58 of the first, Sea Wolves veteran defenseman Patrick Rochon was assessed a five-minute major penalty for spearing Cottonmouths center Dan Tessier.

Rochon also received an automatic game misconduct. Mississippi would kill it off. In the second, Mississippi grabbed the lead for a second time and wouldn�t relinquish it.

Baxter scored the eventual game-winner by snapping a shot from the hash marks in the slot and went shelf on Tapp, notching his 13th of the year at 1:15.

Mississippi made it 3-1 later in the stanza. Walby waltzed in on the right wing and unleashed his patented wrist shot into the back of the net to pot his 19th goal of the season. The assists went to Gauvreau and Travis Lisabeth, who extended his point streak to six games (6g-2a).

In the third, Sea Wolves� Anthony Battaglia put the game out of reach. Jason Kean sent a great pass to Battaglia in the slot, and he tallied his third goal in as many games for his 10th tally of the campaign. Sergei Kuznetsov registered one assist. For Kean was his third assist in three consecutive games.

Then Mississippi�s Louis Dumont, playing in his 600th career ECHL game, rifled a right circle shot for his team-leading 20th goal of the year, beating Tapp, who was playing in his fourth ECHL game. Chris Cava and Gauvreau picked up the assists. The game for Dumont surpassed his current coach Bob Woods, to become the third player in league history to reach the milestone. Rod Taylor (retired) is first with 674 ECHL games played, while Gwinnett�s Cam Brown ranks second with 614.

At the end of the game, Mitch Fritz dropped the gloves with Jeff Hutchins and Brad Voth squared off with Dwayne Blais. The goaltenders then went toe-to-toe and Gardner opened up Tapp like a faucet at center ice.

Mississippi was successful on 1-of-8 power plays, while Columbus went 1-for-6 with the man advantage. Cottonmouths outshot the Sea Wolves, 46-27.

Additional Notes: Sea Wolves right wing Roger Maxwell served the third of a three-game ECHL suspension � Defenseman Austin Miller did not suit up for Mississippi.

The Sea Wolves return home to begin a four-game homestand at 6:05 p.m. on Tuesday against the Gwinnett Gladiators at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. It�s the first and only regular season visit to Biloxi for the former Mobile Mysticks, now based in Duluth, Georgia. The broadcast will start at 5:50 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at msseawolves.com.

Flex packs, discounted group tickets and fundraiser opportunities are available by telephone at (228) 275-WOLF.

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

--- Box Score ---

DATE - 01/11/04 Mississippi (5) at Columbus (1)

SCORE BY PERIODS
Mississippi 1 2 2--5
Columbus    1 0 0--1

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Gauvreau 17 (power play) (Walby; Baxter) 5:38. 2, Columbus-Pepperall 9 (power play) (Shasby; Tessier) 7:37. Penalties: Lewis, CBS (Unsportsmanlike Cond), 5:02. Tessier, CBS (Roughing), 5:02. Rochon, MIS (Roughing), 5:02. Blais, MIS (Slashing), 6:16. Pepperall, CBS (Tripping), 8:30. Hutchins, MIS (Cross checking), 8:30. Rochon, MIS (Tripping), 9:34. Thinel, CBS (Cross checking), 10:33. Lewis, CBS (High sticking), 14:21. Cava, MIS (Tripping), 14:21. Lewis, CBS (Cross checking), 14:21. Rochon, MIS (Spearing, Major, Game misc.), 16:58.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Mississippi-Baxter 13 (game winner) (unassisted) 1:15. 4, Mississippi-Walby 19 (Lisabeth; Gauvreau) 12:04. Penalties: Tessier, CBS (Hooking), 1:07. Hutchins, MIS (Cross checking), 3:10. Lewis, CBS (Cross checking), 3:36. Tessier, CBS (Roughing), 6:58. Lisabeth, MIS (High sticking), 6:58. Ndur, CBS (Cross checking), 6:58. Tessier, CBS (Roughing), 13:37. Blais, MIS (Roughing, Double minor), 13:37. Lewis, CBS (Unsportsmanlike Cond), 13:37. Ndur, CBS (Roughing), 16:31. Baxter, MIS (Interference), 17:01. Gardner, MIS served by Lisabeth (Delay of game), 19:09.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Mississippi-Battaglia 10 (Kean; Kuznetsov) 4:01. 6, Mississippi-Dumont 20 (Gauvreau; Cava) 17:37. Penalties: Hutchins, MIS (Slashing), 14:14. Lewis, CBS (Fighting, Major), 17:52. Cava, MIS (Fighting, Major), 17:52. Lewis, CBS (High sticking), 17:52. Fritz, CBS (Interference, Fighting, Major, Game misc.), 20:00. Tapp, CBS (Fighting, Major, Game misc.), 20:00. Voth, CBS (Interference, Fighting, Major, Game misc.-2), 20:00. Blais, MIS (Fighting, Major), 20:00. Hutchins, MIS (Fighting, Major), 20:00. Gardner, MIS (Fighting, Major, Game misc.), 20:00.

SHOTS ON GOAL
Mississippi 9  8 10--27
Columbus   20 13 13--46

Power Play Conversions: Mississippi - 1-of-8, Columbus - 1-of-6.

Goalies: Mississippi-Gardner (46 shots, 45 saves; record: 11-8-3). Columbus-Tapp (27 shots, 22 saves; record: 3-1-0).

A: 1839. Referee: Brown. Linesmen: Finley; Phillips.