October 12, 2001
SCORE BY PERIODS
South Carolina 1 1 0--2
Columbia 2 0 1--3
FIRST
PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, South Carolina-Sessa (Bednar, Irving) 3:47.
2, Columbia-Petz
(power play) (Ulwelling) 13:40. 3, Columbia-Trottier
(Mackie) 14:56. Penalties:
Way, CBA (tripping), 4:18. Tremblay, CBA
(cross checking), 5:17. Brindley, SC
(cross checking), 5:51. Irving,
SC (fighting, major), 9:39. Trottier, CBA
(fighting, major), 9:39.
Ham, SC (tripping), 12:26. Dewar, CBA (tripping),
16:37. Irving, SC
(high sticking, double minor), 18:57.
SECOND
PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, South Carolina-Sessa (Williamson) 13:38.
Penalties: Petz,
CBA (high sticking), 1:58. Vial, CBA (Slashing), 4:35.
Marchand, SC (elbowing),
8:38. Williamson, SC (high sticking), 10:22.
Williamson, SC (interference),
18:24.
THIRD
PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Columbia-Wansborough (Stringer, Mackie) 4:24.
Penalties:
Wansborough, CBA (slashing), 7:31. Ulwelling, CBA (hooking),
13:33. Marietti, SC
(elbowing), 14:49.
SHOTS ON GOAL
South Carolina 5 5 16--26
Columbia 7 14 13--34
Power Play Conversions: South Carolina – 0 of 6. Columbia – 1 of 4.
Goalies:
South Carolina-Lehman (34 shots-31 saves). Columbia-Villeneuve
(26 shots-24
saves).
A: 6016. Referee: Koharski. Linesmen: Eberle; Shiley.
Fans get their money's worth in 3-2 Inferno win
Nat
Newell
The State
COLUMBIA--Shawn Wansborough heard it with 1:30 remaining.
The crowd.
The
Columbia Inferno had given the Carolina Coliseum crowd everything it
could want in the city's professional ice hockey debut over the first 58:30.
There
was hard hitting. Loud, fast music. Free T-shirts. Chuck-A-Puck.
Even a fight. Now the 6,216 fans were doing their best to deliver what their
newest team wanted -- a victory.
"It
was great when they started picking it up a notch and yelling in the last
1:30," said Wansborough as Columbia held on for a 3-2 victory over the
South Carolina Stingrays, the East Coast Hockey League's defending champions.
"It's
exciting. We play for ourselves, but it's more fun when someone can
appreciate the hard work you put in and the bruising you take."
Wansborough and his teammates gave the fans plenty to cheer about.
With
the scored tied at 2, Wansborough scored the game-winner with 15:36
to play. The 5-foot-10, 210-pound winger took a pass from Rejean Stringer
12 feet in front of the net, and with 6-1, 195 pound Zach Ham dragging him
to the ice, Wansborough fired the puck past South Carolina goalie Jody Lehman.
"Rejean
hit me in the slot, and I was kind of backing out," Wansborough said.
"But when the guy knocked me down, it pushed me forward. It was kind of
good because I snapped it off and caught the goalie off-guard."
The
North Charleston-based Stingrays tied the score at 2 with 6:22 to play in
the second period as right wing Jason Sessa took a pass from Brad Williamson
and fired a shot over Martin Villeneuve's right shoulder from 40 feet.
It
was a soft goal but it seemed to inspire the Inferno as they outshot South
Carolina 27-11 in the last two periods and killed off two power plays in the
final 12:30.
"We
played our best hockey after the second goal was scored against us,"
Inferno coach Scott White said. "Our guys dominated down low in the second
half of the game."
And they did it without two of their defensemen.
Clint
Way injured a knee after a collision with South Carolina's Marty Clapton
as Way was coming out of the penalty box with 13:30 to play in the first period.
He'll have an MRI this morning and will miss tonight's game against Columbus.
Twelve
minutes later, Didier Tremblay, the team's best offensive defenseman, took
a stick between the nose and eye from South Carolina's Joel Irving.
Tremblay
broke his nose and was taken to the hospital to determine if he had
blood behind his eye.
It
left the Inferno with Dennis Vial, Kevin Mackie, Danny Powell and Ryan Coole
on defense for the final two periods. White said forward Bryce Classen will play
some defense against Columbus since it's unlikely the team will sign a player in
time
for tonight's game.
"We
asked the forwards to pick up the pace," Vial said. "We asked them to
stay
high (in the offensive zone), come back and support the D. Don't have us running
around in our own zone and get caught in a long shift since we didn't have a lot
of
time to recover.
"I thought we did a great job."
As
the final 90 seconds ticked off, the only person in the building who wasn't
yelling was White.
He had won his first game as a head coach but lost his voice.
"I'm
proud of the guys in that locker room right now," he said as he held the
puck,
a gift from the team.
"They
are what a team is all about. We're short-handed after a couple of injuries
early, and we did whatever it took in the third period to win the hockey
game."