CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Cincinnati Cyclones (25-14-3-1) enjoyed their best offensive output of the season as they defeated the Evansville IceMen (16-24-1-3) by a final score of 7-3 in front of 5,010 at U.S. Bank Arena on Friday night.
Cincinnati jumped out to an early lead at the 5:45 mark when Trevor Lewis knocked in his first career goal on a rebound from a slap shot taken by Jeff Winchester. Dan Eves followed a few minutes later and deposited a power play goal over Evansville net minder Paul Karpowich (L, 19 saves, 7-10-1-1) after a feed across the middle from David Pacan to give the Cyclones a 2-0 lead. The IceMen cut Cincinnati advantage in half at the 13:08 mark as Sebastian Wannstrom was able to beat Michael Houser (W, 7-3-0, 2.66 GAA) with a offering from the slot. Josh Shalla then connected with a lamp lighter at 16:45 to again give the Cyclones a two-goal cushion. Less than two minutes later, forward Anthony Luciani caught up to a loose puck and potted his third goal of the season to give Cincinnati a 4-1 lead – which they would take into the first intermission. Cincinnati also set a season-best for shots-allowed in a period, as Evansville only mustered three attempts in the first 20 minutes.
The Cyclones continued to control the action in the middle stanza. At 8:04, Josh Birkholz stickhandler through a defender and spun a short-handed wrist shot past Paul Dainton (ND, 9 saves), who replaced Karpowich after the intermission. Andrew Conboy piled on more Cincinnati offense as he blasted home his fourth goal of the year at the 9:34 mark – making it a 6-1 game. But they weren’t done; Taylor Ellington followed with a cannon-blast of his own that eluded Dainton to push the Cincinnati lead to 7-1. The IceMen finally got back on the board before the intermission, as Kevin Baker found the net at 18:40 to pull his team back to within five. At the end of 40 minutes, the Cyclones held a commanding 7-2 advantage.
In the third period, the teams played a physical stalemate until the 13:37 mark when Todd Robinson picked up a goal after finding a loose puck in the left circle. It would be the last time either team could score as Cincinnati cruised the rest of the way to a 7-3 victory. In total, there were 82 minutes of penalties amassed between the two clubs.
The Cyclones Radio Network Stars of the Game are as follows:
First Star: Trevor Lewis (1 goal, 2 assists for Cincinnati)
Second Star: Anthony Luciani (1 goal, 1 assist for Cincinnati)
Third Star: Andrew Conboy (1 goal, 1 assist for Cincinnati)
The Cyclones will return to the ice at U.S. Bank Arena TOMORROW night when they play host to the Kalamazoo Wings at 7:30pm!
