The Cincinnati Stingers opened the first period against their Midwest
rivals with a goal in less then a minute. The goal came from John Hughes only thirty three
seconds into the period. Hughes made the score after receiving a pass from teammate Richie
Leduc. Hughes then took a slap shot from the top of the left circle for the score. Shortly
after the goal, the Racers center Hugh Harris was sent to the penalty box for
interference. Cincinnati was unable to take advantage of the Racers with the power play.
During that time the Stingers took three straight shots on the Racers net from point blank
range. But Indianapolis's goaltender Jim Park rejected every shot.
The Racers got on the board shortly
before the first period ended when Blair McDonald skated past Claude Larose and then took
a shot at the Stingers goal. Stingers goalie Paul Hoganson was out and away from the net
and tried to block the shot. But wound up deflecting the puck in the net instead.
The second saw both teams match each
other in goals with the first score coming from Racers Pat Stapleton thirty seconds into
the period. Stapleton received a pass from teammate Micheal Parizeau and then proceeded to
slap the puck past Stingers goalie Paul Hoganson. But Rick Dudley answered with a goal
more then ten minutes later. The Racers however, took the lead back after Hugh Harris took
a pass from Stapleton in front of the Stingers net and then knocked the puck in. Dennis
Sobchuck tied the game back up for the Stingers after skating over the blue line and
dodging a couple Racers. He then managed to slip the puck past Jim Park for the score.
The Stingers and Racers entered the
third period with a score of 3-3 and both clubs continued to match each other goal for
goal. Pierre Guite kicked it all off with his seventh goal of the season at 7:46. But the
Racers answered with two straight goal to take the lead. The first coming from Nick
Harabuk and the second coming from Michael Parizeau. Parizeau's goal was shot from right
in front of the Stingers net and would be his first of the season. The Stingers however,
hung in there and managed to score at 16:27 when Dennis Abgrall knocked in a rebound
directly in front of the Racers net. The goal would send the Stingers to their third
overtime in three straight games.
Despite the Stingers hanging tough in
overtime, the Racers would prevail with a goal by Francois Rochon. The goal came at 4:36
when he skated from his own blue line, through a couple Racers players and slipped the
puck past Paul Hoganson for the game winning score. |
