LAFAYETTE, La. � Louisiana rookie Pascal Pelletier scored his first two professional goals to lead the IceGators to a 6-2 victory over the Mississippi Sea Wolves at the Cajundome.
�There are no excuses, we got outworked,� Mississippi coach Bob Woods said. �We gave up 49 shots and 22 in the first period. That�s embarrassing. We have to get things straightened out. Efforts like this are not going to win many hockey games. The good news is that we get another chance at the IceGators Saturday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.�
Louisiana (3-1-1, 7 points) got rolling at the 10:49 mark, as Pelletier beat Jason Wolfe on a wraparound for his first professional goal. Assists went to Alex Materukhin and David Bararuk.
The IceGators, who outshot the Sea Wolves, 22-8 in the first period, went up 2-0 off a left circle shot from Materukhin. Mark Rooneem drew the lone helper.
Louisiana continued to pour it on in the opening stanza and at 15:14, Mike Omicioli ripped a left circle shot into the back of the cage for his fourth of the season. Doug MacIver and Wes Mason collected assists as the IceGators held a 3-0 after 20 minutes of action.
IceGators put the game away 23 seconds into the middle stanza. While on the penalty kill, Materukhin moved in on a 2-on-1 break with Bararuk, who netted his second of the season. Max Fortunus also garnered an assist.
Mississippi (4-5-0, 8 points) got on the board at 6:13 of the second. Anthony Battaglia converted his second of the season from the slot getting the puck through Kyle Kettles, assisted by Louis Dumont and Nicolas Corbeil.
Just over one minute later, Louisiana regained its four-goal bulge on the power play. Pelletier notched his second of the game from in close, with helpers going to Randy Deganais and Bararuk.
In the third, Battaglia tallied on the power-play for his second of the game, with Dumont and Corbeil picking up their second helpers of the game.
Veteran Chris Thompson completed the scoring, getting credit for his first of the season on the power-play at 11:36. Wes Mason and Josh Barker collected assists.
Mississippi converted on 1-of-9 power play chances, while Louisiana went 2-for-8. IceGators outshot the Sea Wolves 49-37.
Additional notes: The IceGators were celebrating their 10th Anniversary season and brought back some former players, which were honored in the first intermission. Taking part in the ceremony were Chris Valicevic, Bryan Schoen, Joey Middlestadt, Doug Bonner, Ron Handy, Jason McQuat, Rob McCaig, Ryan Shanahan and Eric Cloutier ... Dumont, who played with Louisiana from 1996-99, was also recognized � Mississippi�s Milt Mastad returned to the Cajundome to play against his former teammates for the first time, where he played the last two seasons, as a member of the Sea Wolves.
The Sea Wolves return home to take on the Louisiana in the second game of a home-and-home series at 7:35 p.m. tomorrow at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The game promotion consists of $2 hotdogs and $2 drafts from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Individual tickets for Saturday�s game against the IceGators can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (228) 385-2600 and online at ticketmaster.com.
Listen to the broadcasts live on WGCM-AM 1240 or online at msseawolves.com, courtesy of Teamline.
Watch the games on a pay-per-view basis online, courtesy of B2 Networks, at msseawolves.com.
Season ticket packages, flex packs, discounted groups tickets and fundraiser opportunities are available by calling (228) 275-WOLF or online at msseawolves.com.
--- Box Score ---
SCORE BY PERIODS
Mississippi 0 1 1--2
Louisiana 3 2 1--6
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Louisiana-Pelletier 1 (Materukhin; Bararuk)
10:49. 2, Louisiana-Materukhin 2 (Rooneem; Ortmeyer) 13:51. 3,
Louisiana-Omicioli 4 (game winner) (MacIver; Mason) 15:14.
Penalties: Miller, MIS (Holding), 6:01. Rooneem, LA (Holding stick),
11:35. Materukhin, LA (Fighting, Major), 14:16. Cava, MIS (Fighting,
Major), 14:16. Perez, LA (Slashing), 14:21. O'Leary, MIS (Slashing),
14:21. Dumont, MIS (Holding), 17:03. Skiehar, LA (Board check), 19:36.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Louisiana-Bararuk 2 (short handed)
(Materukhin; Fortunus) 0:23. 5, Mississippi-Battaglia 2 (Dumont;
Corbeil) 6:13. 6, Louisiana-Pelletier 2 (power play) (Dagenais;
Bararuk) 7:28. Penalties: Corbeil, MIS (Slashing), 6:37. Miller, MIS
(Hooking), 9:50. Smith, LA (Tripping), 12:39. Barker, LA
(Cross checking), 14:41. Hutchins, MIS (Kneeing), 15:06. Thompson,
LA (High sticking), 17:17. Dagenais, LA (Roughing), 19:44.
Battaglia, MIS (Roughing), 19:44. Dagenais, LA served by Smith
(Roughing), 19:44. Thompson, LA (Fighting, Major), 19:46. Hutchins,
MIS (Fighting, Major), 19:46.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 7, Mississippi-Battaglia 3 (power play)
(Dumont; Corbeil) 3:07. 8, Louisiana-Thompson 1 (power play) (Mason;
Barker) 11:36. Penalties: MacIver, LA (Interference), 1:52. O'Leary,
MIS (Roughing), 1:52. MacIver, LA (Fighting, Major, Game misc.),
1:52. Lisabeth, MIS (Slashing), 3:59. Rooneem, LA (Holding), 7:25.
Martone, MIS (Hooking), 9:25. Hutchins, MIS (Slashing), 16:32.
Skiehar, LA (Fighting, Major), 18:08. Jacobson, MIS (Fighting,
Cross checking, Major), 18:08. Evangelista, LA (Fighting, Major),
19:24. Miller, MIS (Fighting, Elbowing, Major), 19:24. Miller, MIS
(Cross checking), 19:24. Evangelista, LA (Slashing), 19:24.
Hutchins, MIS served by O'Leary (High sticking, Double minor), 19:39.
SHOTS ON GOAL
Mississippi 8 14 15--37
Louisiana 22 12 15--49
Power Play Conversions: Mississippi - 1 of 9, Louisiana - 2 of 8.
Goalies: Mississippi-Wolfe (49 shots, 43 saves; record: 3-3-0).
Louisiana-Kettles (37 shots, 35 saves; record: 2-1-1).
A: 2793. Referee: Ernst. Linesmen: Wilkinson; Jones.
