Cyclones continue to move up standings

February 6, 2012

The Cincinnati Cyclones won all three of their games last week, each by a one-goal margin, improving to 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. Cincinnati sits just one point of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 21-14-6 for 48 points, and has at least four games in hand on each team ahead of it in the standings.

Cincinnati opened last week with a come-from-behind 7-6 overtime win against Toledo. The Cyclones trailed 6-1 midway through the second period and 6-3 with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation. Joe Devin and Jonathan Hazen scored just over two minutes apart to make it a one-goal game, and Mathew Sisca forced overtime with 46 seconds remaining in regulation. Sisca tallied the game winner 1:07 into the extra session for his fourth point of the night (2g-2a) to cap the comeback.

On Friday, Brad Fogal turned aside 30 shots and four different Cyclones found the back of the net in a 4-3 win against South Carolina. Robert Slaney (1g-1a), Michael Pelech (1g-1a) and Hazen (0g-2a) led the way offensively with two points each, and the Cyclones power play was key, scoring three times in five opportunities.

The Cyclones concluded the week with a 3-2 victory against the Stingrays on Saturday. Dan Eves and Maury Edwards scored late in the first period to give Cincinnati a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes, and with the game tied at two midway through the third period, Mathieu Aubin tallied the game-winning goal to lift Cincinnati to the win. Fogal earned his third consecutive win, turning aside 25 South Carolina shots.

Sisca has 14 points (7g-7a) in 12 games with Cincinnati after being acquired in a trade with Bakersfield. Overall this season, he had 41 points (15g-26a) in 46 games, and ranks second among ECHL rookies in assists and third in points. Pelech, who was picked up in a trade with Toledo earlier this season, also has excelled since joining the Cyclones, notching 32 points (11g-11g-21a) in 29 games with the club. Aubin, who was part of Cincinnati’s Kelly Cup championship teams in 2008 and 2010, leads the team this season with 18 goals.

Cincinnati looks to extend its four-game unbeaten streak this week as the Cyclones host Toledo on Wednesday and Trenton on Friday before heading to Toledo for games against the Walleye on Saturday and Sunday.