BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi�s Jeff Hutchins scored two goals and added two assists, while the Sea Wolves exploded with four goals in the second period to propel past the Pensacola Ice Pilots 7-4 in a closed preseason game at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
�It took the opening 20 minutes of action to get comfortable,� Mississippi general manager and coach Bob Woods said. �Once we got more physical and shot the puck more, things fell into place. It�s a good starting point and something to build on. The players have two more preseason games (at Florida) to see what they can do.�
The Ice Pilots struck first at the 7:51 mark of first period. Tyler Perry beat Randy Hevey to open the score.
Pensacola made it 2-0, just over two minutes later. Corey Neilson, the 2003-04 ECHL Defenseman of the Year, unleashed a shot from the point, which was deflected by Chris St. Jacques into the net. Aaron Phillips also registered a helper.
At 13:49, the Sea Wolves got their offense in gear. Jeff Hutchins, who attended the training camp with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League, re-directed a centering feed from Jay Legault past Todd Ford. Kerry Ellis-Toddington, who attended the AHL camp with Manitoba, also garnered an assist.
Pensacola regained its two-goal lead with 2:25 left in the opening period. With time infront of the net, Jade Galbraith made it 3-1 for the Ice Pilots through 20 minutes.
In the second, Mississippi hit stride at 4:35. Mike Martone, who was part of the 1999 Kelly Cup Championship team and last played professionally in 2000-01, found the back of the net with a wrist shot from the right point. Travis Lisabeth and Bobby Cunningham registered assists.
Hutchins tallied his second of the game, re-directing a pass in front from Kerry Ellis-Toddington to tie the score 3-3. Lucas Drake also had an assist on the tally.
Sea Wolves would take their first lead of the game on the power play at 8:34. Anthony Battaglia, who attended training camp with Grand Rapids of the AHL, netted a shot from the slot. Travis Lisabeth and Mike Jarmuth, who attended training camp with Rochester of the AHL, picked up assists.
Final minute of the middle stanza, Mississippi capitalized on another man advantage. Legault, who was a member of the Kelly Cup Finalist Florida Everblades last season, scored at 19:23. Jarmuth and Hutchins collected assists.
Pensacola closed the gap to one at 4:43 of the third. George Cantrall finished off a nice pass from Ryan Vince to beat Brian Gallagher.
Mississippi went back up by a pair at 10:20. Darryl Campbell, who took last year off to attend business school, beat Terry Denike with a right circle shot to make it 6-4 for the Sea Wolves. Tristan Lush and Austin Miller had the helpers.
At 16:35, Lisabeth put the game away. A fourth year pro and fourth season with the Sea Wolves, Lisabeth fired a wicked wrist shot just under the crossbar to give Mississippi a 7-4 lead. Martone and Battaglia had the helpers.
Mississippi went 2-for-5 on the power play, while Pensacola converted on 1-of-3 opportunities. Ice Pilots outshot the Sea Wolves 40-25.
Additional notes: Sea Wolves� Justin Messer, who was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and played his youth hockey at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, became the first-ever locally-born player to appear in a preseason game finishing with one shot on net ... Mississippi�s Jason Kean left the game in the second period and did not return ... Sea Wolves' Lee Jacobson had three major penalties and as per ECHL rules was automatically ejected from the game in the second period. Jacobson (6-4, 230 lbs.) fought Bill Kinkel (6-5, 240 lbs.) twice and George Cantrall (6-3, 230 lbs) picking up a total of 25 penalty minutes ... Mississippi players that did not dress included Chris Cava, Nicolas Corbeil, Louis Dumont, Milt Mastad, Rickard Oquist and Jason Wolfe ... Pensacola players that were not in the lineup consisted of Tyler Beechey, Frederic Cloutier, Chanse Fitzpatrick, Aaron Gionet and Dwayne Hay.
Mississippi plays two more preseason games at 6:30 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday at Germain Arena in Estero, Florida against the Everblades. Games will not be broadcast.
The Sea Wolves opening weekend begins at 7:35 p.m. on Friday, October 22 against the Louisiana IceGators and at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday, October 23 against Pensacola at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Individual tickets for the opening weekend games can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (228) 594-3707 and online at ticketmaster.com.
Season ticket packages are on sale by calling (228) 275-WOLF or online at msseawolves.com. A flex pack and group tickets are also available.
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