Renegades fade in third period

Gades fade down stretch Two late goals by Cyclones deal blow to Gades' playoff bid

Given the opportunity to put themselves in position to qualify for the playoffs, the Richmond Renegades let it slip through their hands in the third period last night in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Richmond gave up two goals -- one of short-handed -- in the last nine minutes and dropped a 5-3 decision to last-place Twin City.

A victory would have enabled the Renegades (29-27-3, 61 points) to tie Fayetteville (29-25-5, 63) for the fourth and final playoff berth in the Southern Professional Hockey League.

Richmond could have then clinched a playoff spot by beating Knoxville tonight, even if Fayetteville won its final game against Twin City.

As it stands, the Renegades must beat Knoxville and hope Fayetteville loses to Twin City in regulation to make the playoffs. Richmond would have the tiebreaker advantage (more wins) in that scenario.

After Justin Joy tied it 3-3 two minutes into the third period, Ryan Webb scored twice for the Cyclones, who snapped a six-game losing skid.

The Renegades took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission when Beau McLaughlin scored his team-high 30th goal of the season off a feed from Jozef Kubaliak midway through the period.

Richmond allowed three goals in the second frame, two coming on the power play, and was only able to answer once, when Geoff Rollins set up Ryan Busby to briefly tie it at 2.

Richmond ------------------------- 1 1 1 -- 3
Twin City ------------------------- 0 3 2 -- 5

First Period -- 1, Richmond, McLaughlin 30 (Kubaliak), 10:31. Penalties _ Karasiewicz, Rich (tripping), 3:20; Bartle, TC (hooking), 12:05; Rollins, Rich (hooking), 16:39.

Second Period -- 2, Twin City, Swartzentruber 5 (Moore, Richard), 2:05. 3, Twin City, Welch 1 (Zalewski), 9:52 (pp). 4, Richmond, Busby 22 (Rolllins), 14:25. 5, Twin City, Moore 8 (Richard, Swartzentruber), 18:28 (pp). Penalties -- Manny, TC (roughing), 7:49; Oke, Rich (holding), 8:27; Jensen, TC (handling the puck), 10:06; Vandermeer, Rich (tripping), 15:52; Vandermeer, Rich (slashing), 18:01.

Third Period -- 6, Richmond, Joy 23 (McLaughlin, Vandermeer), 1:59. 7, Twin City, Webb 1 (Lefebvre), 8:56. 8, Twin City, Webb 2 (Wagner, Melnyk), 18:08 (sh). Penalties -- Siganuk, TC (roughing), 9:23; Richard, TC, minor-major (instigator, fighting), 12:14; Weibel, Rich, minor-major (roughing, fighting), 12:14; Bartle, TC (holding), 13:32; Zalba, Rich, minor-misconduct (unsportsmanlike conduct, abuse of official), 14:25; Bartle, TC (cross-checking), 16:49; Richmond bench, served by Kubaliak, 18:08.

Shots on goal -- Richmond 9-17-9 -- 35. Twin City 10-15-8 -- 33. Power-play opportunities -- Richmond 0 of 6, Twin City 2 of 7. Goalies -- Richmond, Scott 14-13-3 (33 shots-28 saves). Twin City, Druce 15-10-4 (35-32). Referees -- Curtis Marouelli. A -- 1,288.