Checkers vs. Gladiators: 11/03/06

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(Includes quotes from Derek Wilkinson)

CHECKERS PRESS RELEASE

CHECKERS FALL 4-3 IN CLOSE GAME AGAINST GWINNETT

CHARLOTTE, NC - The Charlotte Checkers lost a close 4-3 game against the Gwinnett Gladiators Friday night in front of 5,125 people at St.
Lawrence Homes Home Ice at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Dusty Jamieson led in scoring for the Checkers with one goal and one assist.

"It was a close score, but I don't think either team played very well at all," commented Checkers Head Coach Derek Wilkinson. "I know we certainly didn't play as well as we could have and I don't think, based on what I know from Gwinnett, they didn't play that well either. I think both teams probably walked away feeling they should be a lot better."

Scoring started late in the first period with a pair of power play goals from Charlotte. Dusty Jamieson scored the first goal at 16:16 in the period with help from both Daymen Rycroft and Mark Lee giving him his eighth goal of the season. Less than one minute later at 17:11, Ryan Constant scored his first goal of the season, and the assist was given to Corey Potter. Constant?s goal put the Checkers up 2-0 going into intermission.

Gwinnett scored three of the four second period goals beginning at
1:31 in the period from Mike Vigilante who was assisted by Brad Schell. Joel Stepp scored the second of three goals with an assist from Chad Painchaud at 5:17. The third goal from Gwinnett was scored by Jeff Campbell at 7:44 in the period and he had help from both Brad Schell and Jon Awe making the score 3-2. The final goal of the period was scored by Charlotte?s Mark Lee, on the power play, who was assisted by both Jamieson and Blake Bellefeuille at 19:42 in the period. The score was tied at 3 going into the second intermission.

The only goal of the third and final period was from Gwinnett?s Blue Bennefield at 6:40 in the period. The assists were given to both Jamie Milam and Scott Mifsud icing the score at 4-3 with Gwinnett leading.

Alex Westund was in goal for the Checkers stopping 32 of 36 shots on goal, and Dan Turple was in goal for the Gladiators stopping 22 of 25 shots on goal.

Continued Wilkinson, "It gets fustrating, but we have to identlfy the bad penalties we took tonight and eliminate those out of our game. You play well, do good things and good things come. You try to do a little better and a little better, and when you try to do a bit more than what you're supposed to, then it becomes an individual effort. We don't have selfish players on our team, but they tried too much tonight. So hopefully we can reel them in, get them believeing in each other and using each other again for Sunday. That's the only adjustment, making them understand that they don't have to do more, just do what they do best."

The Checkers next game is Sunday, November 5, 2006 against the Texas Wildcatters at 4:00 p.m. at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. For ticket information call the Checkers at 704-342-4-ICE or purchase and print your tickets at www.gocheckers.com (http://www.gocheckers.com).

BOX SCORE (http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=962)

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No story online from The Charlotte Observer, but here's the print version:

CHECKERS CAN'T HOLD EARLY LEAD
Gwinnett takes over 1st place in ECHL's Southern Division

Tim Donelli - Special Correspondent

CHARLOTTE, NC - The Gwinnett Gladiators erased a two-goal deficit to the Charlotte Checkers in the first period and won 4-3 Friday at Charlotte Bobcats Arena.

Charlotte and Gwinnett came into Friday tied with the best record in the ECHL's Southern Division at 4-1-0.

It was the first game of a nine-game season series.

Tied at 3-3 entering the third period, Blue Bennefield's power-play goal with 13 minutes left held up as the game winner. Dusty Jamieson, Ryan Constant and Mark Lee scored for the Checkers, who dropped their first home game of the season in three tries.

The Checkers (4-2-0) were blanked in the final period and could only muster four shots on goalie Dan Turple, who won his third game of the season with 22 saves.

Charlotte goalie Alex Westlund suffered his first loss of the campaign (2-1-0), facing 36 shots and making 32 saves. The Gladiators' margin of victory in their first four wins was nearly three-and-a-half goals.

"The score was close but I didn't think Gwinnett played as well as they can play, and I didn't think we played as well as we can play," Charlotte coach Derek Wilkinson said. "With all the penalties neither team could get into much of a rhythm. I think it was really hard for both teams to gauge their performance."

The Gladiators were assessed 24 penalty minutes while Charlotte absorbed 22 minutes.

Both teams had their moments in the first period, but it was the Checkers who capitalized using the ECHL's second best power play.

Jamieson scored on a rebound for his league-leading eighth goal this season for a 1-0 lead at 16:16, and less than a minute later Constant's goal made it 2-0. Both came on power plays.

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GLADIATORS PRESS RELEASE (http://www.gwinnettgladiators.com/gwinnett/LatestNews/LatestNews.asp?SectionName='Latest%20News'&PageName='Press%20Releases'&ArticleID=998)

GLADIATORS BEAT CHECKERS 4-3
Bennefield with game winner for Gwinnett

The Gladiators overcame a two-goal deficit and used Blue Bennefield’s 3rd goal of the season to knock off the Charlotte Checkers 4-3 on Friday night at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena for the Gladiators fourth consecutive win. With the win, Gwinnett improves to 5-1-0 on the season.

Dusty Jamieson posted his ECHL leading 8th goal of the season to give the Checkers a 1-0 lead with 3:44 left in the opening period. On a 4-on-3 advantage, Jamieson was left open along the left wing circle and beat Gladiators netminder Dan Turple with a snapshot to the far post off a feed from Daymen Rycroft. Mark Lee also had an assist on the goal for the Checkers.

Charlotte took a 2-0 lead just 55 seconds later as Rick Kozak beat Turple over the shoulder for the marker. Ryan Constant and Corey Potter hooked up to set up Kozak at the point to pick up the assists on the power play goal.

The Gladiators got on the board in the second period with a pair of goals early in the second period. Mike Vigilante collected an outlet pass from Brad Schell and slid behind the Charlotte defense beating Checkers netminder Alex Westlund on a breakaway. Vigilante’s goal came 1:31 into the second period was his 5th of the season.

Joel Stepp collected his second goal of the season at the 5:17 mark to tie the game at two. Stepp took a pass from Chad Painchaud in the right wing face off circle and whipped a shot off the shoulder of Westlund that rolled up the netminder’s shoulder and into the back of the net.

The Gladiators took a 3-2 lead on Jeff Campbell’s power play goal just 7:44 into the second period. Parked in the right wing corner, Campbell cleared the puck off of Westlund’s skate and into the back of the net for the marker. Jon Awe added an assist as he moved the puck down the wing to Schell to set up Campbell on the goal.

Charlotte tied the game at three with just 18 seconds left in the middle stanza. Jamieson rolled the puck past a Gladiator in the slot to a wide-open Mark Lee. Lee beat Turple from point blank range for the marker. Blake Bellefeuille also had an assist on the marker.

Gwinnett regained the only lead they would need with a power play goal early in the third period. Bennefield deflected Jamie Milam’s slapshot from the point on the power play past Westlund for his 3rd goal of the season. Scott Mifsud also had an assist on the goal at 6:40 of the third period.

Turple won his third consecutive start for the Gladiators making 28 saves in the win for the Gladiators. Gwinnett finished the contest outshooting the Checkers while finishing 3-for-10 on the power play.

The Gwinnett Gladiators continue their fourth season as a proud member of the ECHL on November 4th on the Your Best Rate Financial Home Ice at the Arena at Gwinnett Center against the Texas Wildcatters. Season tickets are on sale now. In addition, the Gladiators offer several unique multi-game ticket packages as well as discounted group rates, suite rentals, and birthday parties. For more information call 770-497-5100 or log on to gwinnettgladiators.com (http://gwinnettgladiators.com).

The Gladiators are the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers and play all home games on the Your Best Rate Financial Home Ice at the spectacular 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth, where parking is always free.

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GWINNETT DAILY POST (http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=37&url_article_id=21208&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2) (Uh, check your box score, people)

MILAM SCORES WINNER FOR GLADIATORS

From Staff Reports

CHARLOTTE, NC - The Gwinnett Gladiators overcame a two-goal deficit and Jamie Milam scored the game-winner to knock off the Charlotte Checkers 4-3 on Friday night at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena.

The victory, Gwinnett’s fourth straight, gave the Gladiators sole possession of first place in the South Division with a 5-1-0 record. Charlotte (4-2-0) failed to hold onto a 2-0 lead against Gwinnett and dropped into a tie for second place with Texas.

Charlotte’s Dusty Jamieson posted his league-leading eighth goal of the season with 3:44 left in the first period during a 4-on-3 power-play and the Checkers beat goalie Dan Turple again 55 seconds later.

The Gladiators scored three unanswered goals in the second period before Charlotte tied it at 3.

Gwinnett’s Mike Vigilante collected an outlet pass from Brad Schell and zipped behind the Charlotte defense to beat goalie Alex Westlund on a breakaway. Vigilante’s goal, his fifth of the season, came 1:31 into the second period and was soon followed by Joel Stepp’s game-tying tally.

Stepp took a pass from Chad Painchaud in the right-wing faceoff circle and whipped a shot at Westlund that rolled up the netminder’s shoulder and into the back of the net at 5:17.

The Gladiators took a 3-2 lead on Jeff Campbell’s power play goal just 7:44 into the second period. Parked in the right-wing corner, Campbell cleared the puck off of Westlund’s skate and into the net.

Charlotte tied the game with just 18 seconds left in the period when Jamieson rolled the puck past a Gladiator in the slot to a wide-open Mark Lee. Lee beat Turple from point blank range.

Then Milam made his first professional goal count big.

Working on the power play early in the third, Stepp and Scott Mifsud set up Milam, who was at the point. Milam, a rookie and younger brother of former Gladiator defenseman Troy Milam, unloaded a slap shot from just inside the blue line that beat Westlund at 6:40 of the third period.

Turple won his third consecutive start for the Gladiators making 28 saves.