1994 vs Hershey 5-4 loss
The Worcester IceCats and Bears played a see-saw affair, but two quick third period goals handed Worcester a 5-4 loss. Paul Jerrard (7:31) and Mitch Lamoureux (14:22) gave Hershey a two goal lead, but John Carter cut that deficit in half with an unassisted goal at 17:51. Walt Poddubny then got the IceCats back to even at 19:57 with a goal assisted by Shawn Heaphy and Jason Widmer. Worcester took the lead at 1:10 of the middle frame on a goal by Mark Woolf, his only point in seven games for Worcester. Shaun Kane and Widmer had the assists. The Bears would tie it at 10:15 on a goal by Vinny Prospal. Jarrett Deuling, from Sean Whyte and Denis Chalifoux at 3:22 of the third, gave Worcester its lead back but goals from Bob Wilkie and Jerrard eight seconds apart with just over two minutes to go sealed the IceCats fate. [210Sports note: This game was shown nationally on ESPN2]
1996 at Portland 7-4 win
The Worcester IceCats scored four third period goals against the Pirates to defeat Portland 7-4. Andrew Brunette put the Pirates up at 1:07 of the first period. Fifty-nine seconds later Gary Leeman tied the score with Scott Pellerin and Terry Virtue assisting. Benoit Gratton made it 2-1 Portland with a power play goal at 3:53, and Jaroslav Svejkovsky made it a two goal lead at 5:02 on the power play. Mike Maneluk cut that lead in half at 17:10, with Justin Hocking and Radim Bicanek helping. Don Parsons tied it for the ‘Cats with his only career AHL goal at 10:09, with Maneluk assisting. Brunette beat the second period buzzer with a goal at 19:59 to make it 4-3, but Maneluk scored again at 1:24 of the third to tie the game. Nick Naumenko had the lone assist on the play. Chris Kenady gave Worcester the lead at 4:47 with Pellerin and Virtue combining to assist. Leeman then scored his second of the game, once again assisted by Virtue, at 7:13 on the power play. Maneluk completed his hat trick with an empty net goal at 18:34, assisted by Parsons. Mike Buzak had 32 saves in the win.
2001 at Philadelphia 4-3 loss
The Worcester IceCats played a great opening twenty minutes but then made several key defensive mistakes in a 4-3 loss to the Phantoms. Justin Papineau, Marc Brown and Jeff Panzer scored for the goals for Worcester, with Papineau’s coming at 18:45 of the opening period when he put home his own rebound. Darren Rumble had an assist on the play. Brown scored unassisted at 9:52 of the middle period to make it 2-2. Panzer made it a 3-3 game at 2:01 of the third period with the first regular season pro goal when he skated through Philly defenders Joe DiPenta and Jim Vandermeer and beat netminder Maxime Ouellet on a breakaway. Kirby Law scored the game winner for Philadelphia at 5:46. Cody Rudkowsky was in goal for the ‘Cats.
2003 4-1 exhibition loss at Hartford (West Hartford, CT)
(CANOE) Garth Murray scored twice and Cory Larose recorded three assists as Hartford salvaged their final preseason game, 4-1 over Worcester in West Hartford, Conn. The Wolf Pack finished their exhibition schedule at 1-2-2. It was the first loss for the IceCats, who were 1-1-2 on the preseason. Jason LaBarbera made 20 saves for Hartford, including a stop on a penalty shot attempt by Mike Glumac.
2008 5-4 exhibition win vs Manchester (Wallace Civic Center, Fitchburg, MA)
(WORSHARKS) Jamie McGinn recorded two goals and Dan DaSilva scored the game winning goal with just 44 seconds left in the third period to propel the Sharks to an exciting 5-4 victory over the Manchester Monarchs at the Wallace Civic Center in Fitchburg on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, the Sharks closed out their four game exhibition schedule at 2-2-0-0. The Monarchs got on the board first early in the opening frame as Denny Johnston lit the lamp at 5:04 past Sharks net minder Thomas Greiss. It would be the only time the Sharks would trail all afternoon. Jamie McGinn scored the first of his two goals of the day from Matt Kinch and Brendan Buckley past the Monarchs’ starting goaltender Jonathan Bernier at 8:24. Springfield native and Sharks rookie P.J. Fenton scored a power play goal at 13:00 minutes with assists from Kinch and Patrick Traverse. It was the second goal in as many games for Fenton. The Sharks led 2-1 after twenty minutes, outshooting the Monarchs 10-5. Dinos Stamoulis would tie the game for Manchester at 4:40 of the second period, but Andrew Desjardins would give the Sharks the lead from Frazer McLaren and Ashton Rome. Desjardins wrist shot went five hole on Bernier as McLaren and Rome set the screen. The Monarchs would switch goaltenders midway through the game as Jeff Zatkoff replaced Bernier who allowed three goals in net. The Sharks led 3-2 after forty minutes outshooting Manchester 27-11 after the second period. The Monarchs would tie the game again as Jon Rheault knotted the score at 3-3 from Marty Murray and Bud Holloway at 14:25 of the third period. The Monarchs’ Paul Crosty would instigate a fight with Frazer McLaren to give the Sharks a late power play at 14:41. Jamie McGinn would make Crosty pay with his second goal of the game with assists from Patrick Traverse and Ryan Vesce. The see-saw battle would continue as a shot from the right point was deflected by Trevor Lewis in front past Thomas Greiss to tie the score at 4-4. Just as it looked as if the Sharks were going to overtime for the second straight game, Dan DaSilva would deflect a shot from the point by Kevin Westgarth past Zatkoff to take the lead for good. Matt Jones was credited with the other assist on the game winner.
2012 4-3 exhibition loss at Springfield
(WORSHARKS) The Sharks led 1-0 and 2-1 but Falcons’ forward Jonathon Audy-Marchessault recorded three goals and added an assist as the Sharks fell 4-3 to the Springfield Falcons at the MassMutual Center in Springfield on Friday night. Freddie Hamilton, Brodie Reid, and Matt Irwin scored for the Sharks in a game that featured six sets of fighting majors and 112 penalty minutes. Curt Gogol and Frazer McLaren each scrapped twice; while Tim Kennedy and Sena Acolatse each dropped the mitts for Worcester in a wild preseason game. Each team scored and dropped the gloves twice in a chippy opening frame with the Sharks grabbing the lead on two different occasions. Freddie Hamilton (1st) and Brodie Reid (1st) scored for Worcester with Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (1st) and Ryan Johansen (1st) getting the markers for the Falcons. Springfield held a 10-7 shot advantage through 20 minutes of play with the two teams combining for 38 minutes of penalties. Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (2nd and 3rd) scored two goals in the first five minutes of play in the middle frame for the hat trick and a 4-2 Falcons advantage. Neither team would find the back of the net the rest of the period as the Sharks trailed by a pair of goals through 40 minutes. Matt Irwin (1st) sent a blast by Springfield netminder Paul Dainton midway through the third period to get the Sharks within a strike at 4-3. Worcester fired 10 shots on goal in the third period but the Falcons held on for the victory. Worcester’s preseason record stands at 1-1-0-0.
2019 4-1 exhibition win at Maine (Rinks at Exeter, NH)
The Worcester Railers HC scored three goals in the second period to defeat the Maine Mariners by the score of 4-1 in ECHL exhibition play at the Rinks at Exeter, NH on Saturday evening in their only exhibition game before the regular season. The Railers kick off the regular season at the DCU Center on Saturday, Oct 12 vs. the Adirondack Thunder. Tommy Tsicos, Jason Lavallee, Ivan Chukarov, and Matt Schmalz (1-1-2) scored for the Railers while Jakub Skarek made 16 saves on 16 shots in net through 29:40 minutes of play for the victory. Evan Buitenhuis made 10 saves in 30:20 minutes of play in relief for Worcester while Drew Callin added two assists in the victory. The Railers took a 1-0 midway through first period thanks to Tommy Tsicos (1st) who was able to bury home a rebound past Francois Brassard after a number of chances. Anthony Cortese and Cody Payne would get credit with the assists on the only goal of the period. Shots were in favor of the Mariners 10-8 through 20 minutes of play as Jakub Skarek was perfect in net. A three goal second period for the Railers was started by Jason Lavallee (1st) who snuck one past the goalie from the right circle assisted by Ned Lukacevic. Ivan Chukarov (1st) would make it a 3-0 lead for the Railers with a power play goal over the shoulder of netminder Francois Brassard assisted by Matt Schmalz and Drew Callin. Jakub Skarek stopped all 16 shots he faced as Evan Buitenhuis came in at 9:40 of the second period in relief. Matt Schmalz (1st) slammed home a rebound to make it a 4-0 lead at 16:40 assisted by Kyle McKenzie and Drew Callin. Worcester outshot Maine 19-8 in the middle frame and led 27-18 in shots after 40 minutes of play. The only scrap of the game occurred at 1:04 of the third period as Ross Olsson (1stFM) dropped Ryan Ferrill with a wicked right hand. The only goal of the final frame would come from the Mariners at 9:45 as Dawson Leedahl (1st) snuck one past the legs of Evan Buitenhuis after a scramble in front of the net to get the Mariners on the board. Evan Buitenhuis shut the door the rest of the way and had 10 saves total in relief as Worcester took home the 4-1 exhibition win to close out training camp. Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star Jakub Skarek (16 saves, Win) 2nd star: Drew Callin (0-2-2) 1st star: Matt Schmalz (1-1-2)….Final shots were 33-27 favor of Worcester… Francois Brassard (0-1-0) made 18 saves on 21 shots for Maine in 29:40 minutes of play, Daniel Spencer made 11 saves on 12 shots in relief….Jakub Skarek (1-0-0) made 16 saves on 16 shots for Worcester in the 29:40 of play while Evan Buitenhuis made 10 saves on 11 shots in relief in 30:20 minutes of play… Worcester went 1-for-2 on the power play while Maine went 0-for-3…. Anthony Florentino (inj), Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Tanner Pond, Ryan Hitchcock, Barry Almeida, Kyle Thomas, Nic Pierog, Justin Murray, and Connor Doherty did not dress for Worcester…. Bo Brauer wore the “C” for Worcester while Henrik Samuelsson and Kyle McKenzie each wore an “A” for Worcester …Jason Lavallee led all skaters with seven shots on goal… Cody Payne, Jason Lavallee, and Anthony Cortese all finished with a plus two rating.
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