BILOXI, Miss. � Rookie Mike Scott scored the game-winning goal with less than six minutes remaining to lift the Mississippi Sea Wolves past the Columbia Inferno in Game 4 of the Southern Conference Finals.
Columbia suffers its first loss of the postseason dropping to 9-1 overall. The Inferno continues to lead the best-of-seven series, 3 games to 1.
Mississippi improves to 7-3 in the 2003 Kelly Cup Playoffs.
''It was the effort I was looking for,� Sea Wolves coach Bob Woods said. �We worked hard in front of the fans at home and (Greg) Gardner was excellent in net.''
The game remained scoreless through the opening 20 minutes of action. Mississippi's Gardner made the best saves of the first period, turning away Columbia�s Robin Carruthers on forehand and backhand shots in close.
In the second, the Sea Wolves opened the score at 6:51. John Evangelista buried a centering feed from Sean Peach past Patrick Couture. Chris Cava also picked up an assist in his first game of the 2003 Kelly Cup Playoffs.
Columbia responded less than two minutes later on the power play. Shawn Wansborough hammered a right circle slap shot by Greg Gardner to tie the score 1-1. The marker was Wansborough�s fourth goal of the series and sixth of the playoffs.
In the third, Mike Scott skated on the left wing and unleashed a slap shot from the left circle, the puck trickled through the pads of Couture and over the goal line, giving Mississippi a 2-1 lead. Scott�s fifth tally of the playoffs came at 14:21.
Then 22 seconds later, Mississippi�s Jeff Hutchins highsticked Wansborough and received a double-minor. The Inferno had opportunities but Columbia was foiled by the netminding of Gardner.
At 17:06, Wansborough took a slashing penalty to nullify Columbia�s man advantage. Sea Wolves� Sergei Kuznetsov added some insurance with 1:34 remaining in regulation, sweeping home a loose puck in the slot.
Gardner surrendered one goal on 36 shots, raising his record to 7-3 in the 2003 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Couture turned away 30-of-33 shots, falling to 8-1 in the postseason.
Mississippi was unable to score on seven chances with the man advantage. Columbia went 1-for-10 on the power play.
Additional notes: Earlier in the day, Mississippi placed defenseman Jim Baxter on the 7-day injured reserve and activated defenseman Chris Cava from the injured reserve.
Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. CT at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.
Individual playoff tickets for Mississippi are available at all Ticketmaster locations, the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office and by calling 228-594-3707.
Sea Wolves season tickets for 2003-04 are on sale starting at $21 per month. Call the Sea Wolves hockey office and ask about payment plans at (228) 275-WOLF.
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