Walleye rip Wheeling

10/16/2010

WHEELING, W.Va. - The Walleye struck for four goals in the opening period, and Jordan Pearce made it stand up in a 4-0 win at Wheeling.

Toledo took a 1-0 lead just 2:03 into the first when Zack Torquato beat Wheeling goaltender Mattais Modig with a wrist shot with Evan Rankin and Ryan Stokes drawing the assists. The Walleye made it 2-0 at 8:51 when Randy Rowe scored after deflecting Sal Peralta's shot.

Peter Leblanc would score his first of two in the period when he slammed a rebound into the Wheeling net at 12:11 of the period. Leblanc collected his second goal at 18:40 when he finished off a breakaway. Randy Rowe set up the breakaway with a perfect pass from the Toledo zone.

The second period featured some great goaltending from Pearce as he turned aside 13 more Wheeling shots, including a breakaway from Darryl Smith midway through the period. There was no scoring in the third.

"They came out very aggressive tonight and we were able to take advantage of that tonight," said coach Nick Vitucci. "I was very pleased with our team's effort tonight and a great performance from Jordan Pearce."