BILOXI, Miss. � The Mississippi Sea Wolves exploded with three third period goals and received outstanding goaltending from Matt Underhill, who made 38 saves in a 3-1 victory over the Augusta Lynx in front of 5,138 fans at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
�It was the type of game that I like to see at home,� Mississippi coach Bob Woods said. �We were ready tonight. We came out hard and didn�t let up the pressure. Everyone played well tonight and we got rolling offensively in the third period. It�s going to be a battle in Greenville tomorrow. Both teams will be hungry.�
A scoreless first period provided some rough and tumble action. There were three separate fights in the frame featuring the Sea Wolves� Mike Martone and Lynx took it to Lynx forward Colt King, Mississippi�s Chris Cava knocked down Augusta�s ECHL All-Star representative Ken Magowan, while Sea Wolves� Jay Legault squared off with King before the end of the stanza.
Sea Wolves� John Evangelista, who was making his return to the team after being acquired in a trade with Peoria on Wednesday, had a great opportunity in front of the Lynx net, but goaltender Jason Saal kept the puck out, making a total of 19 saves through 40 minutes.
Augusta�s Eric Johansson had two breakaways in the first two periods, but Underhill was stellar denying those two shots and 22 through two periods.
Early in the third, with Augusta on the power play, Jamie Johnson had a great chance at the side, but Underhill flashed his right pad to make an incredible stop.
Later that shift, Lucas Drake went in on a breakaway and buried a shorthand tally at 35 seconds of the third period for his fifth goal of the season set up by Darryl Campbell and Mike Jarmuth.
Mississippi (18-14-3, 39 points) made it 2-0 at the 7:36 mark. Evangelista fed Pat O�Leary with a lead pass and a breakaway and he made no mistake tallying his eighth goal of the season. Milt Mastad also collected a helper on the eventual game-winner.
Just 52 seconds later, Sea Wolves� Jay Legault got Saal out of position, went around the net and spotted Austin Miller, who swatted the puck in for his second of the year. Travis Lisabeth also picked up an assist on the goal.
Augusta (14-20-4, 32 points) solved Underhill on its 33rd shot of the game. Todd Bennett chipped in his 9th power-play goal of the campaign to lead the Lynx and 13th goal of the year. Magowan and Johansson garnered assists.
Mississippi was unable to convert on two power plays, while Augusta was successful on 1-of-4 man advantages. Lynx outshot the Sea Wolves 39-28.
The Sea Wolves wrap up their weekend with a game at 6:05 p.m. CT tomorrow at Greenville, South Carolina at the BI-LO Center against the Grrrowl. Listen to the action live on WGCM-AM 1240 or online at msseawolves.com, courtesy of Teamline.
Mississippi returns home for games at 7:35 p.m. on Friday and Saturday against the Pee Dee Pride at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
On Friday, promotions consist of Military 2-for-1, sponsored by Keesler Federal Credit Union, which offers all military personnel, active or retired, two tickets for the price of one by showing military identification at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office. It�s also SeaBee Appreciation Night and St. Martin High School Night with a performance by the St. Martin Yellow Jacket Band.
Promotions for Saturday feature $2 hotdogs and $2 drafts from 6:30-8:30 p.m. There will also be the annual Mardi Gras Parade On Ice will take place in the second intermission, plus a Mardi Gras Jersey Raffle will be held to benefit the Gulf Coast Youth Hockey Association.
Individual tickets for Friday and Saturday�s home games can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (228) 385-2600 and online at ticketmaster.com.
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
Augusta 0 0 1--1
Mississippi 0 0 3--3
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Miller, MIS (Interference),
3:53. Martone, MIS (Fighting, Major), 6:33. King, AUG (Fighting,
Major), 6:33. Cava, MIS (Fighting, Major), 10:53. Magowan, AUG
(Fighting, Major), 10:53. Cava, MIS (Elbowing), 10:53. Passmore, AUG
(Delay of game), 10:53. Miller, MIS (Slashing), 11:36. Legault, MIS
(Fighting, Major), 14:04. King, AUG (Fighting, Major), 14:04.
Johnson, AUG (Hooking), 17:28.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: O'Leary, MIS
(Unsportsmanlike Cond), 19:34.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Drake 5 (short handed)
(Campbell; Jarmuth) 0:35. 2, Mississippi-O'Leary 8 (game winner)
(Evangelista; Mastad) 7:36. 3, Mississippi-Miller 2 (Legault;
Lisabeth) 8:28. 4, Augusta-Bennett 13 (power play) (Magowan;
Johansson) 13:12. Penalties: Johansson, AUG (Tripping), 3:51.
Campbell, MIS (Slashing), 12:06.
SHOTS ON GOAL
Augusta 8 14 17--39
Mississippi 12 7 9--28
Power Play Conversions: Augusta - 1 of 4, Mississippi - 0 of 2.
Goalies: Augusta-Saal (28 shots, 25 saves; record: 9-11-3).
Mississippi-Underhill (39 shots, 38 saves; record: 10-6-3).
A: 5138. Referee: Pelletier. Linesmen: Stanton; Wright.
