December 29, 2002

Kingfish Fall Short in Overtime, 4-3
Baton Rouge Kingfish Press Release

A frenzied comeback including Mike Kiesman’s goal with just four seconds remaining in regulation was not enough as the Kingfish fell to the IceGators, 4-3 just 24 seconds into the overtime period.


Louisiana jumped out to an early 1-0 lead at the 3:25 mark of the first period of play as Cal Benazic beat Jeff Blair with a slap shot from the high slot. Bruce Richardson and Chris Taliercio added the assists on the goal.


Bobby Brown took advantage of broken stick and a misplayed clearing attempt with just five seconds remaining in the first period.

Shawn McNeil intercepted the clearing attempt in the Kingfish zone and pulled Blair out of the Kingfish net, slipped the puck to Brown who threw the puck into the empty net for the shorthanded goal.


The Kingfish capitalized on a five-on-three man advantage midway through the second period. Jason Norrie flipped a rebound past Kyle Kettles at the 9:14 mark of the stanza. Marquis Mathieu and Sean Peach added the assists on the power play goal.


Nathan Rempel extended the IceGator lead to two as he took a centering pass from Bobby Brown at the 11:49 mark of the third period and beat Blair over the shoulder.


The Kingfish cut the lead back to one as Jerry Gernander pick up a loose puck and flipped it over the shoulder of Kyle Kettles at the 17:13 mark of the third period. Sam Paquet and Marquis Mathieu added the assists on the goal.


Mike Kiesman picked up a rebound sitting on the top of the goal crease with just four seconds remaining in the third period and flipped the loose puck over Kettles to tie the game up at three. With Jeff Blair pulled in favor of an extra attacker late in the third period and the Kingfish on a power play, the Kingfish used the two extra men to their advantage. Trevor Demmans and Marquis Mathieu picked up the assists on the goal.


Louisiana answered just 28 seconds later, 24 seconds into the overtime session as Daniel Goneau slipped past the Kingfish defense and beat Blair over his shoulder. Bruce Richardson added an assist on the game winning overtime goal.

The Kingfish battle the IceGators again on New Year’s Eve in Lafayette at 7:05 p.m. Catch all the action on Baton Rouge’s Best R & B, 104.5 WZRB beginning with the Kingfish pregame show at 6:50 p.m.
 

DATE - 12/29/02     Louisiana ( 4) AT Baton Rouge ( 3)  OT

SCORE BY PERIODS
Louisiana                  2  0  1  1--4  
Baton Rouge                0  1  2  0--3  


FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Louisiana-Benazic 8 (Richardson; Taliercio) 
3:25. 2, Louisiana-Brown 13 (short handed) (McNeil) 19:55. 
Penalties: Benazic, LA (Cross checking), 0:29. Richardson, LA 
(Roughing), 6:23. Norrie, BR (Fighting, Major), 10:00. Boogaard, LA 
(Fighting, Major), 10:00. Norrie, BR (Cross checking), 16:00. 
Skiehar, LA (Fighting, Major), 18:49. Jacobson, BR (Fighting, Major), 
18:49. Boogaard, LA (Cross checking), 18:49. 

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Baton Rouge-Norrie 13 (power play) 
(Mathieu; Peach) 9:14. Penalties: Benazic, LA (Tripping), 3:12. 
Trsek, BR (Tripping), 4:14. Shiryaev, LA (Board check), 7:52. 
Kvetan, LA (High sticking), 8:30. Kaiman, BR (Roughing), 9:59. 
Benazic, LA (Roughing), 9:59. Mathieu, BR (Tripping), 10:32. 
Ben-Amor, LA (Tripping), 12:53. Peach, BR (Fighting, Major), 15:15. 
Ben-Amor, LA (Fighting, Major), 15:15. Goneau, LA (Cross checking), 
16:57. Richardson, BR (Roughing), 18:55. 

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Louisiana-Rempel 16 (Brown) 11:49. 5, 
Baton Rouge-Gernander 3 (Paquet; Demmans) 17:13. 6, Baton Rouge-
Kiesman 4 (power play) (Demmans; Mathieu) 19:56. Penalties: Goneau, 
LA (High sticking), 1:13. Gernander, BR (Slashing), 5:25. Norrie, BR 
(Fighting, Major), 14:07. Boogaard, LA (Fighting, Major), 14:07. 
Norrie, BR (Roughing, Slashing, Double minor), 14:07. Boogaard, LA 
(Cross checking), 14:07. Guenther, BR (Roughing), 18:39. Mass, LA 
(Delay of game), 18:39. Benazic, LA (Roughing), 18:39. 

OVERTIME -- Scoring: 7, Louisiana-Goneau 15 (game winner) (Richardson) 
0:24. Penalties: None.

SHOTS ON GOAL
Louisiana                  9  4 12  1--26 
Baton Rouge                8 12 18  0--38 

Power Play Conversions: Louisiana - 0 of 7, Baton Rouge - 2 of 10.
Goalies: Louisiana-Kettles (38 shots, 35 saves; record: 5-2-3). 
Baton Rouge-Blair (26 shots, 22 saves; record: 5-12-5). 
A: 2177.  Referee: Smith. Linesmen: Sotak; Jones.