MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com-November 29, 2009- The Springfield Falcons ended a busy stretch of four games in five days with a 3-2 loss suffered against the Portland Pirates on Sunday afternoon at the MassMutual Center.  The Falcons will be off from game action until Friday, December 4 when they take on the Worcester Sharks at The Nest.  

“It’s disappointing,” said Springfield’s Liam Reddox on the team’s last stretch of games, “I don’t think we were ready off the start of any game we played. We got to improve our starts. We definitely can’t be satisfied for battling for only forty minutes a game.” 

The Falcons were trailing very early in the game, only 38-seconds into the contest to be exact, when Portland’s Felix Schutz scored his third goal of the season to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Portland struck again at the 15:42 mark in the first when Paul Byron converted on a Pirates power play. ADVERTISEMENT

“We gave the puck away way too much in the first period,” said Falcons Head Coach Rob Daum, “The first goal we just gave it to them. We settled down in the second and third and that gave us a chance to generate some things, but in the first period we gave the puck away too many times and they took advantage.”

It looked like the Falcons were falling out of the game once Byron’s shot found the back of the net, but Colton Fretter had something to say about that. Fretter scored the Falcons first goal of the game only 15-seconds after Byron’s goal. The goal extended Fretter’s home scoring streak to 11 consecutive games. Cody Wild earned his eighth assist of the season on the goal. 

Springfield had their chances to score with two power plays, including a 5 on 3, but the Falcons never seemed to get into any rhythm on either man advantage. The Falcons struggled in the first period, being outshot 12-5. 

“That was painful,” said Coach Daum on only getting one shot on goal during the 5 on 3, “Because when you get that chance you have to take advantage of it and our power play has been really key for us. And to squander that, no question that hurt.” 

The Falcons tied the game up during the second period on Liam Reddox’s fourth goal of the season. Reddox maneuvered the puck through multiple Portland defenders as he beat Pirates goaltender Jhonas Enroth on the play. Theo Peckham and Ryan MacMurchy earned an assist on the score. 

“I took it wide,” said Reddox on his goal, “I think the ‘D’ man thought I was going to drop it so I saw a lane and just took it to the net hard.”

The tie game did not last for long as Schutz scored his second goal of the game for the Pirates, making it 3-2 in favor of the visitors. The Pirates took the 3-2 lead heading into the final period. 

In the final period, the Falcons sent 17 shots at Portland’s Enroth, but he was there to make every stop. The closest Springfield got to tying the game up was when defenseman Alex Plante’s slap shot hit off Enroth and the left post. The Falcons were aggressive in the third, but came up short. 

“A lot of times when you play three [games] in three [days] and four [games] in five [days] it’s tough to come back in the third,” said Coach Daum on the 17 shots on goal in the third period for the Falcons, “But we did, but we just didn’t find a way to put it in the net.”

Game Notes
The official attendance of today’s game was 2,472...Making his Springfield Falcons debut and first AHL start since the 2006-07 season with Binghamton was Chanse Fitzpatrick. 

Three Stars of Game
1st Star- Felix Schutz (2 G) - POR
2nd Star- Liam Reddox (1 G) - SPR
3rd Star- Matt Generous (2 A) - POR

Falcons Lineup
Charles Linglet – Chad Wiseman – Colton Fretter
Slava Trukhno – Jason Morgan – Bill Thomas
Liam Reddox – Geoff Paukovich – Ryan MacMurchy
Kip Brennan – Bryan Lerg – Chanse Fitzpatrick

Cody Wild – Chris Armstrong
Bryan Young – Jake Taylor
Theo Peckham – Alex Plante

Aaron Sorochan
Andrew Perugini

Scratches
Chris Minard (Injured), Johan Motin (Healthy), Matt Nickerson (Healthy), Jamie Bates (Healthy)

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