Sunday, May 9, 2010

USHL Clark Cup Finals - Game Four Recap

Press Release

Reed Seckel scored two goals in the first period as the Gamblers won Game Four of the USHL Clark Cup Finals to send the series to a deciding fifth game. The road team has now won all four games in the Finals.

It was a wild first period as the Gamblers came out on the offensive scoring three goals over the first 3:31 of the contest. David Gerths scored just 1:12 into the game, marking the first time in the series that the Gamblers have scored the first goal. Less than a minute later, Reed Seckel made it 2-0 when he fired a top-shelf shot over the shoulder of Force goaltender Ryan Massa. Robert Francis kept the momentum going a little more than a minute later by scoring his second of the postseason. Garrett Allen put the Force on the board midway through the frame, but Seckel answered with his second of the period to again give the Gamblers a three-goal advantage. The Force went on the attack to close out the period as Joe Rehkamp crashed the net to score his second playoff goal and Johnnie Searfoss roofed a shot behind Gamblers netminder Steve Summerhays to pull the Force within one. The 4-3 score after one period in Game Four mirrored the final score from Game Three.

The teams settled in defensively after the first 20 minutes and despite several quality chances, both goaltenders stood their ground. Fargo pulled their goaltender in the final moments in favor of the extra attacker in hopes of evening the score, but there wouldn't be bonus hockey for the second straight night as David Gerths tallied an empty net goal to seal the victory and even the series at two games apiece. Green Bay was stellar on the penalty kill for the second straight game as they turned away all four chances by the Force on the man-advantage.

The deciding fifth game will be on Wednesday at the Resch Center in Green Bay.

Boxscore

Post Game Reaction

Green Bay Gamblers forward Reed Seckel on the team's quick start…

"We talked about it in the locker that we wanted to come out on fire. We haven't scored the first goal in the series yet and we wanted to change that up and get on Fargo early."

Seckel on getting two wins in Fargo…

"As soon as we went 0-2 in the first two games, we knew it was a wake-up call and do or die time. We all believe in each other. We have come a long way and had a really great season. We knew that we could come in here and work hard to win both games. Feels great to get both wins. We can enjoy this tonight and then get our minds focused on Wednesday night."

Gamblers forward David Gerths on scoring the first goal of the game…

"It's nice to play with the lead for a change and it is a lot easier because you don't have that monkey on your back that you have to score."

Gerths on the team getting more offensive production the last two games…

"We are getting the bounces and being a lot more persistent. We keep on coming and coming and it has produced a lot the last two games."

Gerths on what it means to win two games while facing elimination…

"It means that we all have a lot of heart. This team - I have never seen anything like it and it has been a great experience."

Gerths on the feeling to go home for Game Five…

"It does feel good, but we are going to enjoy this tonight and then come tomorrow, we are going to be back to work and not think about the past week. It's all about Wednesday."

Green Bay Gamblers Head Coach Jon Cooper on a wild first period…

"It's funny that in a series of defense, the score was like that in the first period. At one point, I looked up and saw 13 shots total on the board and there were seven goals. I think both coach (Steve) Johnson and myself were scratching our heads. It was bound to happen at some point, but I am just glad we had the extra one."

Cooper on his team's quick start…

"We wanted to build off the win last night and I thought we did that early jumping out to the 3-0 lead. But you have to give Fargo a ton of credit. They could have just packed it in early and they didn't. They made it a game right until the last tick of the clock."

Cooper on his team's penalty killing…

"Our power play has been up and down all year, but our penalty killing has really saved us all year. It was obviously big when we killed off the four-minute penalty in the second period. It really gave our guys a lot of confidence going into the third."

Fargo Force Head Coach Steve Johnson on Green Bay's quick start…

"We got off to a bad start, but I think a lot of it was Green Bay just made plays and got pucks through traffic. I don't know it was as much of us not defending well or them making great plays."

Johnson on his team's comeback…

"I am proud that our guys battled back and battled hard. That was positive for us and now we have to build on that. Overall, I thought we played a better game tonight. It has been a game of bounces and inches and we know it will probably be like that on Wednesday too, but we can build on the fact that we played a better game than we did last night."

Johnson on going to a Game Five…

We will be ready to play and we will play hard. Our best games have been on the road during the playoffs - Sioux Falls in Game One (of the first round), Omaha in Game Five (of the second round), and a couple games in Green Bay (during the Finals), so that part of it is fine. We know Green Bay will be great on Wednesday, but we will be ready to play."


(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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