Fayetteville rallies late to foil Renegades

Just when it appeared the Richmond Renegades were going to end their long road trip on a successful note, disaster struck last night.

Fayetteville scored twice in a span of 1:09 late in the third period to come from behind and beat the Renegades 5-4 in Fayetteville, N.C.

A three-goal uprising in the second period had given Richmond a 4-3 lead entering in the final 20 minutes, and goaltender Ryan Scott (41 saves) preserved it for most of the period.

But Marc Norrington tied it at 15:35 and Rob Sich got the game-winner just over a minute later. The Renegades were outshot 12-4 in the third frame.

In losing to Fayetteville for the second time in four nights, Richmond ended its road swing with a 3-5-0 record and fell into a tie for fourth place in the Southern Professional Hockey League.

The Renegades (28-25-2) return home on Friday night (7:35) to face the FireAntz (27-23-5) at the Coliseum.

Center Trevor Karasiewicz assisted on all four Richmond goals, and Geoff Rollins added three assists. Bill Zalba scored twice for the Renegades.

The FireAntz struck first, when Dan Buccella beat Scott midway through the opening period. But the Renegades answered with a power-play goal by Zalba a little over two minutes later.

Fayetteville took a 2-1 edge into the first intermission on Emery Olauson's score with 3½ minutes left in the period. Jason Price brought Richmond even just over a minute into the second period, before Norrington put the FireAntz on top 3-2.

Beau McLaughlin tied it for the third time at 13:49, then another power-play goal by Zalba put the Renegades ahead for the first time 4-3 with 2:27 remaining in the second.

Richmond ------------------------- 1 3 0 - 4
Fayetteville ------------------------- 2 1 2 - 5

First period - 1, Fayetteville, Buccella 20 (Olauson, Needham), 10:36. 2, Richmond, Zalba 7 (Rollins, Karasiewicz), 12:58 (pp), 3. Fayetteville, Olauson 24 (Mi. Ruberto, Buccella), 16:29. Penalties - Sich, Fay (roughing), 4:01; Busby, Rich (roughing), 4:01; Cole, Rich (delay of game), 6:50; Sich, Fay (tripping), 10:52; Geerlinks, Fay (slashing), 12:49; Kubaliak, Rich, major (fighting), 13:12; Needham, Fay, major (fighting), 13:12; Zalba, Rich (hooking), 18:21.

Second period - 4, Richmond, Price 15 (Karasiewicz, Rollins), 1:02. 5, Fayetteville, Norrington 10 (Colangelo, Hessler), 4:28. 6, Richmond, McLaughlin 28 (Karasiewicz, Rollins), 13:49. 7, Richmond, Zalba 8 (McLaughlin, Karasiewicz), 17:33 (pp), Penalties - Lyke, Rich (cross-checking), 1:47; Curry, Rich (delay of game), 5:02; McConnachie, Fay (unsportmanlike conduct), 8:35; Moreland, Fay (slashing), 14:33; Hessler, Fay (handling the puck), 16:44; Lyke, Rich (elbowing), 18:36.

Third period - 8, Fayetteville, Norrington 11 (Colangelo, McConnachie), 15:35. 9, Fayetteville, Sich 33 (Ma. Ruberto, Leveille), 16:44. Penalties - Hessler, Fay (hooking), 1:37.

Shots on goal - Richmond 11-11-4-26; Fayetteville 15-19-12-46. Power-play opportunities - Richmond 2 of 6, Fayetteville 0 of 5. Goalies - Richmond: Scott 13-11-2 (46 shots-41 saves); Fayetteville: St. Vincent 3-0-0 (26-22). Referee: Brent Coulombe. A - 1,866.