BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi coach Bob Woods picked up a birthday gift one day before his 36th birthday, becoming the Sea Wolves all-time coaching wins leader in the regular season by earning his 110th victory, surpassing Bruce Boudreau in 24 fewer games, in a 5-2 win over the Augusta Lynx.
Anthony Battaglia scored the Sea Wolves first hat trick of the season to propel Mississippi to its season-high sixth consecutive win in front of 5,256 fans at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
The Sea Wolves remain in a first place tie with Louisiana in the Central Division with 56 points.
�It�s a nice honor to get the record at home,� said Woods, who was named first star, after coaching his 186th regular season game and improving to 110-61-15 all-time for a .632 win percentage. �Bruce Boudreau (coach of Manchester of the American Hockey League) is one of my former coaches and a great one. It was special to be named first star of the game. But the credit must go to my players. Without good people sitting in front of you on the bench, you can't accomplish much.�
Augusta (17-19-4) forward Josh Bennett, who played with the Sea Wolves last season, returned to Mississippi for the first time as a member of the Lynx. Bennett had two scoring chances in the first period, but goaltender Greg Gardner stopped both of them and made 10 saves in the opening 20 minutes.
Mississippi (25-11-6) got rolling at the 10:27 mark of the first. Battaglia unleashed a wrist shot from the slot over the left shoulder of goaltender Gregg Naumenko for his 12th of the year. Assists went to Louis Dumont and Sergei Kuznetsov, who registered the 150th professional point of his career.
Battaglia went back to work on the penalty kill scoring on a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Kuznetsov. The goal for Battaglia was his second of the game, third shorthand marker of the season and 13th of the campaign, coming at 17:13. Steve O�Rourke also picked up a helper.
In the second, the Sea Wolves stretched their lead to 3-0. With a 5-on-3 power play, ECHL All-Star Steffon Walby scored his 20th of the year on a wrist shot from the slot, tying Dumont and Jeff Hutchins for the team-lead in goals. Kerry Ellis-Toddington collected an assist along with Travis Lisabeth, who extended his point streak to nine games.
Lynx forward Paul Vincent tried to ignite Augusta�s offense. But Gardner made a great glove save turning away Vincent from the left circle.
In the third, ECHL All-Star Greg Jacina solved Gardner on the power-play with the Lynx 19th shot. The Lynx rookie slapped a sharp angle shot from the low right circle, tucking it under the cross bar for his 10th of the campaign. Martin Lapointe and Todd Bennett picked up assists at 1:15.
The Lynx made it a 3-2 game at 7:39. Brandon Doria tallied his second of the season, assisted by Scott Corbett and Nick Greenough, a former Sea Wolves forward returned to Mississippi since he played with the team in the 2001-02 season.
But Battaglia put the game away, notching his third goal of the game on a shot from the top of the right circle at 14:43. It was the first career hat trick for Battaglia and 14th marker of the season. O�Rourke picked up an assist along with Kuznetsov, which was his third of the game.
ECHL All-Star Brent Gauveau rounded out the scoring by sliding the puck into the empty-net for his team-tying 20th of the year with 35 seconds remaining in regulation. O�Rourke grabbed his season-high third helper of the game, while Lisabeth picked up his second assist of the night.
Mississippi went 1-for-2 on the power play, while Augusta converted on 1-of-6 chances. Sea Wolves outshot the Lynx, 46-32.
Additional Notes: Mississippi defenseman Austin Miller appeared in his 100th pro and Sea Wolves game � Sea Wolves' Jason Kean injured his right leg in the third period and did not return to the ice ... Augusta's Greenough had the fighting hat trick, squaring off with Mississippi's Chris Cava twice and Roger Maxwell, in the final minute. Greenough extends his lead in the ECHL for major penalties with 20.
The Sea Wolves wrap up their four-game homestand at 4:05 p.m. on Sunday against the Columbus Cottonmouths at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The promotion for the game features the party four-pack, consisting of four tickets, four hotdogs, four soft drinks starting at only $44. The game broadcast starts at 3:50 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on WTNI-AM 1640 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 - 01/23/04 Augusta (2) at Mississippi (5)
SCORE BY PERIODS
Augusta 0 0 2--2
Mississippi 2 1 2--5
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Battaglia 12 (Kuznetsov; Dumont) 10:27. 2, Mississippi-Battaglia 13 (short handed) (Kuznetsov; O'Rourke) 17:13. Penalties: Kean, MIS (Holding stick), 5:14. Cava, MIS (Fighting, Major), 15:50. Greenough, AUG (Fighting, Major), 15:50. Cava, MIS (Roughing), 15:50. Maxwell, MIS (Roughing), 19:50. Kelman, AUG (Roughing), 19:50. Maxwell, MIS (Ten minute misc.), 19:50.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Mississippi-Walby 20 (game winner) (power play) (Lisabeth; Ellis-Toddington) 7:41. Penalties: Rochon, MIS (Interference), 2:28. Bennett, AUG (Hooking), 5:50. Kelman, AUG (Charging), 7:00. Cava, MIS (Fighting, Major), 9:30. Greenough, AUG (Fighting, Major), 9:30. Dumont, MIS (Tripping), 13:12. Lisabeth, MIS (Tripping), 19:21.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Augusta-Jacina 10 (power play) (Lapointe; Bennett) 1:15. 5, Augusta-Doria 2 (Corbett; Greenough) 7:39. 6, Mississippi-Battaglia 14 (O'Rourke; Kuznetsov) 14:43. 7, Mississippi- Gauvreau 20 (empty net) (Lisabeth; O'Rourke) 19:25. Penalties: Dumont, MIS (Holding stick), 9:03. Jacina, AUG (Elbowing), 9:03. O'Rourke, MIS (Cross checking), 17:18. Maxwell, MIS (Fighting, Major), 19:25. Greenough, AUG (Fighting, Major), 19:25.
SHOTS ON GOAL Augusta 10 7 15--32 Mississippi 8 15 23--46
Power Play Conversions: Augusta - 1-of-6, Mississippi - 1-of-2.
Goalies: Augusta-Naumenko (45 shots, 41 saves; record: 3-2-1). Mississippi-Gardner (32 shots, 30 saves; record: 14-8-3).
A: 5256. Referee: Banfield. Linesmen: Ross; Stanton.
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