Coralville, Iowa - The Cincinnati Cyclones started their three-game road trip with a 4-1 victory over the Iowa Heartlanders at Xtream Arena on Wednesday night. Led by a multi-point performance from Chas Sharpe and eight different Cyclones recording points, Cincinnati picked up a victory in their first meeting in Coralville this season.
- The Cyclones would capitalize on an early power play opportunity when forward Dante Sheriff rifled a shot into the back of the net at the 2:04 mark of the first period. Sheriff’s sixth goal of the season was assisted by captain Justin Vaive and defenseman Chas Sharpe.
- With his goal, Sheriff recorded his first goal since Jan. 12 in a road loss against the Atlanta Gladiators. In addition, Sheriff now has points in back-to-back games, and in three of his last four games.
- Sharpe would then pick up his second point of the night on a goal with 7:32 left to go in the first period. Forward Ty Voit fed Sharpe in the neutral zone and the defenseman fired a short side shot to fool William Rousseau.
- Sharpe extended the Cyclones lead to 2-0, and picked up his 17th goal of the season on the play. Sharpe still leads all ECHL defenseman in goals this season. Forward Jacob Frasca received an assist on the goal as well.
- The Cyclones would hang onto their 2-0 lead through the entire second period with neither team scoring. Despite a lot of physicality between the two hockey clubs, neither broke through. Cincinnati outshot Iowa 23-16 through the first 40 minutes of play.
- At the 5:44 mark of the final frame, Iowa forward Timmy Kent centered the puck in the Heartlanders offensive zone to an open Nathan Noel to trim Cincinnati’s lead to one. Noel’s first of the season made it 2-1 early in the third.
- The Heartlanders would go on a 5-on-3 power play near the midway mark of the third period. Despite the momentum swaying in their favor, Cincinnati would score two shorthanded goals to secure the victory.
- Sharpe gained control of the puck after a redirected pass and dished the puck to Lincoln Griffin on the two-on-one to make it 3-1. Griffin’s 13th goal of the season doubled the Cincinnati lead once again.
- 32 seconds later, forward Remy Parker scored on a wrap-around goal off an assist from forward Mathieu Gosselin. Those two insurance goals, along with a 24-save performance from Vyacheslav Peksa led the Cyclones to two points in the standings and a 4-1 victory over the Heartlanders.
The Cyclones will travel to Indiana to take on the Fort Wayne Komets on Friday night in game two of the four game road trip. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. ET and can be streamed on FloHockey and the Cyclones Radio Network.
Call (513) 421-PUCK for tickets and more information and stay on top of all the latest team updates and information on Facebook, Twitter (@CincyCyclones), and Instagram, along with our website, www.cycloneshockey.com.
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