The Lockport Express returned to action Saturday night at the Cornerstone Ice Arena as they faced off against Northeast Division rivals, Skylands Kings. The visitors were able to defeat Lockport 8-3 and extend Lockport’s losing streak to 13.
The Express came out for warmups with a little more pep in their step, although that did not translate to the game. Skylands opened the scoring halfway through the first period with a marker by Darrin Bruce, assisted by Dylan Dinzik and Lionel Landry. Lockport answered at 16:37 with a goal by Frankie Bodami. Josh Evoy and Pavel Kovtunov.
The second period was completely dominated by Skylands with five goals. The Express was shut out and lost goaltender, Sam Fitzpatrick, to injury for the rest of the game. He was replaced by Adam Partridge. Edward Klein, Steven Ford, Darrin Bruce, Eric Vanderhoff, and Mike King all recorded goals for the Kings.
Skylands continued their scoring touch with a tally by Edward Klein at 3:18 of the third period. The Express were able to grab the next two goals. Mitchell Thornton nabbed his first goal of the year at 7:19. He was assisted by Pavel Kovtunov. Nine minutes later, Brandon Schweickert notched his sixth goal of the year. It was a shorthanded goal that surprised everyone. At the time of the goal, Lockport was actually two men short. Eric Vanderhoff closed out the scoring for Skylands. The goal, scored with a minute left in regulation, was assisted by Jan Broz.
“There’s a lot of work to be done. We need to find that drive. We have good players on this team, we just need to get them all on the same page with our system,” head coach Frank Vecchio said after the game. “It’s a tough road, but I have the confidence we can get it done. It’s just going to take some hard work.”
Lockport next sees action Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as they visit the Syracuse Stampede at the Morrisville State Iceplex. The next home game will be Friday, December 2nd, against the Southern Tier Xpress.
Northeast Division Standings (as of 11/14/2016)
Team
|
GP
|
W
|
L
|
OTL
|
SOL
|
Pts
|
Binghamton Junior Senators
|
22
|
21
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
43
|
Jersey Shore Wildcats
|
22
|
14
|
7
|
1
|
0
|
29
|
Syracuse Stampede
|
19
|
9
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
18
|
Roc City Royals
|
18
|
8
|
7
|
2
|
1
|
17
|
Skylands Kings
|
21
|
4
|
16
|
1
|
0
|
9
|
Lockport Express
|
16
|
3
|
13
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
All Lockport Express home games can be heard live on niagaraswatercooler.com
