Storm plays well, but falls to Greenville

12/21/2005

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Toledo coach Nick Vitucci couldn't think of a lot of bad things to say about his team following a 2-1 loss to the Greenville Grrrowl last night.

Although the Storm (11-9-3) finished its trip South with a 1-2 record, Toledo competed hard against a Greenville team that was more than ready to return to the ice.

Despite having to postpone two weekend home games because of a lack of power following a late-week ice storm, the Grrrowl played hard enough to claim the come-from-behind victory.

"We knew they were a little rusty, not playing in quite awhile with the power outages and the cancellation of their games," said Vitucci. "We were a little rusty due to playing with a couple guys out of the lineup because of injuries and some call-ups. But I thought, as the game went on, the game got more entertaining and there were a lot more quality scoring chances."

Toledo opened quickly, putting Greenville on its heels early.

The Storm took advantage of an early power play to claim a 1-0 lead at the 1:36 mark of the first period.

Just 24 seconds after Greenville defenseman Jan Vodrazka was hit with a two-minute interference penalty, Storm forward Adam Keefe tapped a shot past Grrrowl goalie Mike Brodeur to give Toledo the advantage.

Although Toledo closed the period with the lead, it was forced to play without defenseman Jason Maleyko, who was hit with a game misconduct penalty after getting into a fight with

Grrrowl center Tyler Mosienko.

The second period was more of the same for the first half of play with neither team managing to put up a scoring threat.

That changed at the 11:52 mark when Greenville left wing Brock Radunske drilled a long range shot past Toledo goalie David Cann to tie the game.

Greenville earned its first lead of the night at the 14:41 mark when center Colin Pepperall passed the puck to John Snowden behind the Storm net, then planted himself just to the right of the goal.

Snowden returned the puck, which Pepperall backhanded into the net.

The goal, Pepperall's fourth of the season, was his 208th point as a Grrrowl, tying him for second on the club's all-time scoring list.

"There was a one-goal difference with 10 minutes to play and, boy, people were playing," said Grrrowl coach John Marks, who watched his team improve to 13-9-1.

"They're [Toledo] a good team. They play in an excellent division they're used to playing hard competitive games. It was a real good game."