FALCONS BEAT THE PIRATES 2-1
>>FALCONS HEAD COACH ROB DAUM RECAPS THE WIN
>>COLIN McDONALD TALKS ABOUT GAME-WINNING GOAL
November 8, 2009 - The Springfield Falcons beat the Portland Pirates 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine as they finished off a perfect weekend at 2-0. The Falcons have now moved into a second place tie in the Atlantic Division with a record of 7-5-2-1 good for 17 points.
In a spirited first period, Portland's Philip Gogulla opened the scoring at 12:34 of the first frame when he tallied his second goal of the year.
There were a pair of altercations in the opening period when Kip Brennan and Joe DiPenta dropped the gloves, followed by Matt Nickerson and Hans Benson going toe-to-toe. Fans may remember it was DiPenta who earned a suspension early in the year for slashing Brennan on opening night.
In the second period, the Falcons evened the score at 1-1 just 44-seconds into the middle frame when Ryan O'Marra scored his second marker of the year. Springfield took their first lead of the game at the 6:00 mark of the middle stanza when Colin McDonald's slap shot beat Portland goaltender Jean-Philipe Lamoureux giving the Falcons a 2-1 advantage.
Springfield goaltender Devan Dubnyk was very steady stopping 39 of 40 shots, including a breakaway late in the second period.
THREE STARS
1. Devan Dubnyk - 39 saves
2. Colin McDonald - Game-winning goal
3. Philip Gogulla - 1 goal
FALCONS LINEUP
Linglet - Wiseman - Fretter
Trukhno - Lerg - Thomas
MacMurchy - O'Marra - McDonald
Brennan - Paukovich - Nickerson
Taylor - Arsene
Armstrong - Wild
Plante - Peckham
Dubnyk
Sorochan
FALCONS SCRATCHES - Chris Minard (Injured), Johan Motin (Healthy)
PRE-GAME NOTES
The Falcons beat the Pirates in their opener, 5-2, at the MassMutual Center receiving goals from Taylor Chorney, Charles Linglet, Chris Minard, Liam Reddox and Adam Henrich.
The Falcons lineup on Sunday will look a little different from their lineup in the opener as Liam Reddox and Ryan Potulny are currently on recall to the Edmonton Oilers. Taylor Chorney, who was also on the Falcons roster the last time these two teams played, is also in Edmonton. Chris Minard is expected to miss his fourth straight game due to injury and the Falcons will have 19 healthy skaters and 2 goaltenders active for Sunday's matinee.
The Pirates have also made some roster tweaks since the first meeting adding former Falcon forwards Kyle Wanvig and Hans Benson. Wanvig has played in six games for the Pirates collecting three goals and one assist, while Benson has no points and 10 penalty minutes in three contests. Pirates goaltender Jhonas Enroth played for the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night in Boston, but is back in Portland on Sunday.
The Falcons have a record of 6-5-2-1 on the season and are currently tied with the Lowell Devils for fourth place in the very competitive Atlantic Division. The Pirates have a mark of 5-8-0-0 and currently sit in eighth place in the division.
Speedy forwards Tyler Ennis (6-5-11) and Nathan Gerbe (3-7-10) continue to lead Portland's offense, while 6-3, 225-pound Mark Mancari is close to a point a game with four goals and eifght assists for 12 points in 13 games.
Both teams had Saturday night off with Springfield beating Bridgeport Friday night by a score of 5-2. Chad Wiseman led the offense with two goals and the game's first star.
Falcons forward Colton Fretter returns to Portland after spending last year with the Pirates where he collected 24 goals.
