Queen City Takes Crucial First Game

Eugene, OR – The Eugene Generals dropped the first game of the NOR-PAC Cascade Cup Championship 4-2 tonight at Lane Events Center-Ice. The Generals came out of the gate nervous, and it showed on the scoreboard. The Generals fell behind 4-0 before scoring the last two goals of the game. “Every game we’ve lost in the playoffs is the direct result of not playing a full 60 minutes of hockey,” Generals Head Coach Robert Freeland stated. “We dug ourselves in a hole, and just didn’t have enough to climb back out.”

The Cutthroats struck quickly scoring 2:26 into the first when Generals goalie Spencer Alvarez mishandled a puck to Brandon Vanacker on the power play, and he capitalized on the short handed opportunity. The Cutthroats maintained control for much of the first period, but the Generals didn’t allow Queen City to extend their one goal lead. The Cutthroats did extend their lead by three in the second, which proved to be an insurmountable lead for the Generals. The Generals did manage to get one in the second when Michael Frei and Troy Mytinger assisted Lucas Romero on the power play to make it a three goal game. The Generals would score the only goal of the third period when Tyler MacMillan assisted Ben Tikka. Tikka’s goal would cut the lead to two, but that would be the end of the scoring for Generals.

The Generals out shot the Cutthroats 26-19, but it just wasn’t enough. The Generals will have to fight their way out of a hole to win the series. This is the first playoff series that the Generals haven’t opened with a win, but there is a lot of hockey still to play. The Generals will have to play with a lot more heart and intensity if they expect to win this series, and earn a bid to the Junior B National Tournament in Philadelphia.

Game two of the Cascade Cup Championship will be broadcast on GiTV tomorrow night at 7:15 on www.eugenegenerals.com. For more information on upcoming games please visit www.eugenegenerals.com.

For more information:
Chris Bilder, Public Relations/Marketing, Eugene Generals
541-359-4154 (office)
541-680-6222 (cell)