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Chris Bilder, Public Relations/Marketing, Eugene Generals
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2005
Generals Snap Pioneers Streak
Vancouver, WA – The Eugene Generals ended the Fort Vancouver Pioneers 14 game winning streak tonight by a score of 3-2. The game was a battle from the beginning, but it seemed like the Generals just had a little more in the tank. “Our boys played with a lot of grit and determination tonight,” Generals Head Coach Robert Freeland stated. “We played a complete game tonight, and that’s the way you have to play against a team of this caliber.”
Fort Vancouver opened the scoring in the first period when Jake O’Neal found Michael Sullivan open in front of the net, and Sullivan snuck it by the glove of Generals goalie Garrett Driscoll half way through the first period. The final 10 minutes of the first period, and the first 18 of the second, were hard fought, but saw no scoring. The drought ended when Carrick Cristiano dumped the puck into the neutral zone for Michael Frei, who collected the puck and raced down the ice on a breakaway. Frei lifted the puck over Pioneers goalie Andrew Gorski’s extended pads to tie the game at 1.
The third period saw Fort Vancouver retake the lead 1:16 into the period, when Haakon Weinstein snatched the puck out of the air at the blue line, walked in on the net, and fired a shot over the shoulder of a screened Driscoll. The Generals would not be stopped, however, as Ryan Schank scored shorthanded on a breakaway 3:15 later. “That goal was huge for us,” Coach Freeland said. “It was our only penalty kill of the game, and to score gave our guys the confidence to put the game away.” The Generals maintained control of the puck for the better part of the period after the shorthanded goal, but just couldn’t find a way to capitalize. Time was winding down in the third period, and it looked as if it would go into overtime. The Generals would have nothing to do with overtime, however. With 23 seconds remaining on the clock, Matt Vasilie won a face-off back to Ben Tikka. Tikka maneuvered to the center of the ice and rifled a slap shot. The shot was low, hard, and in perfect position for NOR-PAC’s leading scorer, Kris Kranzky, to tip the puck past Gorski, and secure a Generals victory.
The Generals will face the Pioneers tomorrow night at Mt. View Ice Arena in Vancouver, WA. For more information on upcoming Generals games please contact www.eugenegenerals.com.