CINCINNATI , Ohio – Cyclones forwards Brian O’Hanley and David Pacan each had three point nights as the Cincinnati Cyclones (2-0-1-0) bounced back from a tough road loss in Toledo by coming home and picking up a 6-4 win against the Trenton Titans (4-1-0-0) in front of 3,285 at U.S. Bank Arena on Saturday night.
The Cyclones got the scoring started 5:51 into the opening period when Garrett Wilson slipped the puck past Titans goaltender Scott Wedgewood (L, 29 saves, 3-1-0-0). However, Trenton didn’t stay behind for long as Blake Kessel fired a shot from the left face-off circle and found the back of the net over the stick side pad of Cincinnati goalie Zoltan Hetenyi (ND, 6 saves, 0-0-0-0) at 9:18 tying the game at 1-1. From that point on, things began to get chippy. At 9:59 Cyclones defenseman Mike Liambas laid a heavy hit on Trenton’s Jacob Drewiske that sent him off the boards and straight to the ice. Liambas was assessed a major penalty for interference and was also ejected as he picked up a game misconduct for the hit. Cincinnati regained the lead with 24 seconds left in the in the frame as Francois Bouchard received a David Pacan pass in front of the goal and found space to put it by Wedgewood. After the ensuing face-off Titans forward Andrew Conboy went on the attack, landing several punches on Cyclones captain Mathieu Aubin. It took several minutes for the officials to clear the mess and when it was all over Conboy, as well as Cyclones forward Mike Pelech, were ejected from the game.
The Cyclones extended their cushion to 3-1 early in the second period when Cam Reid made a couple of very impressive moves to fool Wedgewood, and find the back of the cage just 1:02 in. Trenton answered to close the gap to 3-2 on a breakaway goal by forward Brian Haczyk at the 8:29 mark. O’Hanley answered back for Cincinnati by scoring the first of his two goals at 9:52, drilling home a slap shot from just inside the Titan blue line and the Cyclones again led by two. After both Aubin and Taylor Aronson were whistled for separate slashing penalties, Trenton’s Marcel Noebels scored the final goal of the period at 16:22 during the two-man advantage.
Early in the final stanza, O’Hanley scored what turned out to be the game winning goal at 3:23 on a wrist shot that sailed past the stick side of Wedgewood, giving Cincinnati a 5-3 lead. Just one minute later David Pacan picked up his first professional goal on a shot from the right circle. Cyclones net minder Brian Foster (W, 9 saves, 2-0-1-0), who replaced Hetenyi at the beginning of the third, allowed just one goal on the night at the 16:19 mark by Trenton’s Eric Baier, making it 6-4. Cincinnati held on to win by the same score.
After another home victory, the Cyclones will now hit the road for a pair games against the Elmira Jackals next Friday and Saturday night at First Arena. Both contests are set to begin at 7:05pm. Fans can hear all the action of the games on the Cyclones Radio Network (CyclonesHockey.com / America One) beginning at 6:45pm.
The Cyclones will return to the ice at U.S. Bank Arena on Wednedsay, October 31st as they welcome in the Kalamazoo Wings to U.S. Bank Arena for the first time this season. I
