For Immediate Release: March 20, 2016
CYCLONES FALL IN SHOOTOUT TO EVANSVILLE
Evansville Battles Back from a Pair of Two-Goal Deficits
Evansville, IN- The Cincinnati Cyclones (33-22-4-4) fell to the Evansville IceMen, 6-5 in a shootout, on Sunday evening. Defenseman Brett Wysopal, and forwards Tommy Mele, Christiaan Minella, Colin Mulvey and Jack Downing scored the goals for the Cyclones, who have now gone to overtime or a shootout in three straight games.
The Cyclones took the early lead 6:00 into the first, when a shot from forward Branden Gracel was turned aside by Evansville goaltender Scott Greenham, but Mele was following up the play and buried in the rebound to give Cincinnati a 1-0 advantage.
Evansville struck just over four minutes later when forward Andrew Harrison found the back of the net, and then forward Ryan Penny scored soon thereafter to give Evansville a 2-1 lead.
That lead was short lived however, as at the 13:57 mark of the first, forward Nick Huard took a shot that was tipped out front by Minella past Greenham, tying the game back up, 2-2.
That 2-2 score held up throughout the remainder of the first, and in the second the Cyclones regained the lead 1:17 in while on the power play, when Wysopal took a cross-ice feed from Huard and tucked it under the crossbar to put Cincinnati ahead, 3-2.
That lead became 4-2 roughly three minutes later, when Mulvey took a drop pass from defenseman Garrett Noonan coming over the blue line, and he wristed the puck past Greenham from the slot, for his 17th goal of the season.
Evansville got one back late in the period when forward Sebastian Strandberg found the back of the net to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 4-3 after 40 minutes.
The Cyclones took back the momentum early in the third while on the power play, as just 21 seconds into the frame Noonan sent a pass to Downing who hammered home a one-timer, extending Cincinnati’s lead back to two goals, 5-3.
The momentum was short-lived however, as a few minutes past the halfway mark of the third, Evansville defenseman Curtis Leonard scored to pull the IceMen to within a goal at 5-4, and they completed the comeback with less than five minutes left when forward Alex Wideman put one in to tie the game, 5-5, forcing overtime.
After a scoreless extra session that saw Cincinnati get a number of quality scoring chances, the two sides headed to a shootout. In the skills completion, Evansville forwards Wideman and Tyson Fawcett scored the lone markers, and the IceMen skated off to a 6-5 shootout win.
The Cyclones outshot Evansville, 41-34 on the night, while the power play converted on 50% of its chances. Cincinnati continues its four-game road trip on Thursday night in Indy against the Fuel. Faceoff is set for 7:05pm ET.
The 2015-2016 season is underway! Your Cyclones are on the march towards another Kelly Cup Championship, and want you along for the ride! Be sure to check out one of our 2015-16 Ticket Packages, available NOW! Call 513.421.PUCK to reserve your seats. Fans can also get the latest team updates on Facebook, Twitter (@CincyCyclones), Instagram, and our website, www.cycloneshockey.com!
