BILOXI, Miss. � The Mississippi Sea Wolves dropped their first game of last week but then won three consecutive contests over three days to ring in 2005 on a positive note.

On Tuesday, Reading topped Mississippi 5-2 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, before the Sea Wolves bounced back with a 5-3 win over the Royals on Friday at the Wolves Den. Mississippi edged Pensacola 2-1 at the Pensacola Civic Center on Saturday and finished the week with a wild 7-5 victory over Louisiana on Sunday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
 
After 30 of 72 regular season ECHL games, the Sea Wolves are positioned three games above .500 for the first time this season with a record of 15-12-3 and 33 points.

Mississippi is in fourth place in the ECHL�s South Division and ranks in a tie for seventh place with the Columbia Inferno in the 12-team American Conference, where the top eight teams make the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Sea Wolves are also just four points out of first place, which is occupied by the Florida Everblades and Pensacola Ice Pilots.

The Sea Wolves are 8-7-1 at home, 7-5-2 on the road, 2-2 in overtime games and 2-1 in shootouts.

 
LAST WEEK�S RESULTS � 4 gp, 3-1-0 = 6 pts

Tuesday, December 28 vs. Reading Royals � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Royals 5, Sea Wolves 2 � Loss
* First-ever meeting between the teams
* Reading scored three goals in the third period to break open a 2-2 tie
* Goal scorers for the Royals were Ryan Kinasewich and Cail MacLean with two each and Preston Mizzi
* Mississippi�s Jay Legault and Louis Dumont tallied in the losing cause
* Sea Wolves goaltender Matt Underhill stopped 35 shots in defeat
* Royals netminder Barry Brust turned away 26 shots to pick up the win

 
Friday, December 31 vs. Reading Royals � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Sea Wolves 5, Royals 3 � Win
* Mississippi scored five unanswered goals over the final two periods after trailing 2-0 in the first
* Sea Wolves received goals from Travis Lisabeth, Jay Legault, Lucas Drake, Russ Guzior and Milt Mastad
* Eric Fortier netted a pair for the Royals and Preston Mizzi also scored
* Mississippi goaltender Jason Wolfe turned aside 28 of 31 shots in the victory
* Reading netminder Barry Brust made 22 saves to suffer the setback


Saturday, January 1 at Pensacola Ice Pilots � Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, Fla.
Sea Wolves 2, Ice Pilots 1 � Win
* Mississippi�s Louis Dumont scored a power-play goal with nine seconds left in regulation to give the Sea Wolves their first win against the Ice Pilots in four games this season
* Jeff Hutchins had the other Sea Wolves tally
* Pensacola�s lone goal was scored by Tyler Beechey
* Sea Wolves goaltender Matt Underhill had 33 saves to register the win
* Ice Pilots rookie goaltender Todd Ford turned away 36-of-38 shots only to lose for the first time this season, dropping his record to 8-1-0 on the season


Sunday, January 2 vs. Louisiana IceGators � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Sea Wolves 7, IceGators 5 � Win
* Mississippi wins its third straight in as many days
* Sea Wolves� Anthony Battaglia scored twice, while Austin Miller, Travis Lisabeth, Pat O�Leary, Lucas Drake and Jeff Hutchins also netted goals in the victory
* IceGators picked up goals from Pascal Pelletier, David Bararuk, Dan Sullivan, Chris Heid and Wes Mason
* Mississippi�s Matt Underhill stopped 33 shots to collect the win
* Louisiana�s Nathan Marsters gave up seven goals on 42 shots


Mississippi travels to Texas for its only game of the week on Saturday. The Sea Wolves next home game is at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday, January 13 against the Louisiana IceGators.
 
GAME BROADCASTS THIS WEEK �
 
Saturday, January 8 at Texas Wildcatters � 7:35 p.m. CT � Ford Arena, Beaumont, Texas
* Watch live web telecast for $6 online at msseawolves.com, courtesy of B2 Networks
* Listen live on WGCM-AM 1240 and online at msseawolves.com

 
GAME PREVIEW �

Saturday, January 8 at Texas Wildcatters � 7:35 p.m. CT � Ford Arena, Beaumont, Texas
* The sixth of 11 games in the season series and third of five at Texas
* The Sea Wolves lead the season series 4-1-0 and are 2-0-0 at Ford Arena
* Sea Wolves� Travis Lisabeth leads Mississippi with eight assists and 10 points against Texas
* Mississippi�s Jeff Hutchins is tops with five goals versus the Wildcatters this season
* Texas forward Andrew Ianiero leads the Wildcatters with five assists and seven points against the Sea Wolves
* Wildcatters� John Snowden has three goals, which is the most for Texas versus Mississippi
* Sea Wolves are 17-3-0 all-time in the regular season against the Wildcatters and 8-1-0 at Texas

STREAKING SEA WOLVES �

 
MISSISSIPPI MILESTONE WATCH �
* Defenseman Mike Martone is just one point from 50 in his professional career (208 gp, 11g-38a, 49 pts, 370 PIM).
* Center Nicolas Corbeil is three points from 50 in his professional career (61 gp, 18g-29a, 47 pts, 32 PIM)
* Goaltender Jason Wolfe is two wins from 50 in his professional career (102 gp, 48-38-7 record)

SEA WOLVES INJURED RESERVE �
None

MISSISSIPPI CALL UP �
* Right wing Lee Jacobson was loaned to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League on December 28

PLAYER OF THE WEEK � Left wing Jeff Hutchins collected two goals, six assists and a plus/minus of +6 over four games last week including points each contest. The 6-foot and 205-pound Hutchins had three multi-point games with two assists on Tuesday against Reading, a goal and an assist at Pensacola on Saturday and one goal and two helpers on Sunday versus Louisiana. A native of Toronto, Ontario, Hutchins leads Mississippi with 16 goals including a team-high five power-play tallies and a plus/minus of +12. Through 30 games, the 26-year-old is second on the team with 31 points and 108 penalty minutes.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK � Matt Underhill backstopped the Sea Wolves two a pair of wins last week in three games. The 25-year-old Underhill has appeared in 15 games compiling a 7-5-3 record with Mississippi this season. A native of Campbell River, British Columbia, Underhill has a 2.90 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.
 
TRANSACTIONS FROM LAST WEEK �
12/28/04 Delete, Lee Jacobson, RW, Loaned to Cincinnati (AHL)
12/28/04 Add, Brian Escobedo, D, Activated off the 7-day injured reserve
12/31/04 Delete, Brian Escobedo, D, Traded to Charlotte (ECHL) for future considerations
12/31/04 Add, Russ Guzior, C, Activated off the 7-day injured reserve

TEAM LEADERS �
Goals � Jeff Hutchins, 16
Assists � Louis Dumont, 23
Points � Louis Dumont, 33
Plus/Minus � Jeff Hutchins, +12
Penalty Minutes � Chris Cava, 116
Power-Play Goals � Jeff Hutchins, 5
Shorthand Goals � Anthony Battaglia, 3
Game-Winning Goals � Louis Dumont, 5
First Goals � Louis Dumont and Mike Jarmuth, 3
Goaltender Wins � Matt Underhill and Jason Wolfe, 7
Goals-Against Average � Matt Underhill, 2.90
Save Percentage � Matt Underhill, .916

SPECIAL TEAMS (ECHL Rank) �
Power Play � 21-for-148, 14.2% (20)
Penalty Killing � 126-of-153, 82.3% (21)
Shorthand Goals For � 5 (T6)
Shorthand Goals Against � 2 (T7)

PRACTICES THIS WEEK �
Monday � No ice available
Tuesday � No ice available
Wednesday � 12:30 p.m., Pensacola Civic Center, Florida
Thursday � No ice available
Friday � 11:30 a.m., Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Saturday � 11 a.m., morning skate, Ford Arena, Beaumont, Texas
Sunday � Day off
* All practices are open to the public. Dates and times are subject to change.

LISTEN AND WATCH GAMES LIVE � Join Mike Kelly, �Voice of the Sea Wolves� for play-by-play action of all home and away games on WGCM-AM 1240. Listen on the internet at msseawolves.com, courtesy of Teamline.

Watch the games live on the web telecast for $6, courtesy of B2 Networks, online at msseawolves.com.

Bring your radio and headphones to the home games and tune into the live play-by-play broadcast on 88.5 FM inside the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
 
 
Flex packs, discounted group tickets, birthday packages and fundraiser opportunities are available by calling (228) 275-WOLF.

Individual game tickets start at $9 for children and $11 for adults. Tickets are on sale at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by telephone at (228) 385-2600 and online at ticketmaster.com.