READING, Pennsylvania – After falling behind 2-0, the Cincinnati Cyclones (1-0) scored five unanswered goals as they claimed Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals over the Reading Royals (0-1) by a 5-2 final score on Tuesday night. With the victory, Cincinnati takes a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
The Royals raced out to a 2-0 lead as Matt Caruana and Chris Blight each scored at 7:10 and 13:31 respectively. However, the Cyclones answered back during a delayed penalty when Mathieu Aubin buried a rebound past Royals goaltender Matt Dalton (L, 20 saves, 0-1) to pull the Cyclones within a goal heading into the first intermission.
Despite being shorthanded four more times in the middle frame, the Cyclones were the only team to find the net as Ryan McLeod fed a pass to Sam D’Agostino in front of the net who buried his first professional postseason goal at the 13:18 mark to knot the score after 40 minutes at two.
Early in the third, Cincinnati seized control when McLeod stole a loose puck just outside the Reading blue line, raced into the offensive zone, and buried his first career ECHL playoff goal at 4:48 – giving Cincinnati a 3-2 lead. Little did they know it then, but that turned out to be the game-winner. However the Cyclones weren’t done scoring; Adam Comrie blasted a point shot past Dalton at 9:20 for his first-career professional postseason goal to extend the Cincinnati cushion to 4-2. In the final minutes, Reading pulled its goalie in hopes of mounting a comeback but Cincinnati netminder Brian Foster (W, 22 saves, 1-0) denied some late scoring chances and Barret Ehgoetz found an empty-net goal to seal a 5-2 victory for Cincinnati. It was the 18th come-from-behind playoff win in franchise history (since 2007).
The two teams will meet again in game two of this best-of-five series tomorrow night at the Sovereign Center. The puck will drop at 7:05pm with pregame coverage on the Cyclones Radio Network beginning at 6:50pm.
The defending Kelly Cup Champions will return to U.S. Bank Arena this Friday, April 8 when they host the Royals in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at 7:30pm. Friday’s contest will also feature $1 Donatos Pizza slices. If necessary, Game 4 will be on Saturday night at U.S. Bank Arena and will feature $1 John Morrell hot dogs. 2011 Kelly Cup Playoff tickets and 2011-12 season tickets are on sale NOW! For more information, call 513.421.PUCK (7825) or visit CyclonesHockey.com.
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