Walleye Season Ends with OT Loss in Charlotte; Checkers Win Series 3-1
4/11/2010 - (Charlotte, NC) The Toledo Walleye climbed out of a 3-1 first period deficit to lead 4-3 in the third, but Charlotte sent Toledo home at 8:10 of overtime 5-4. The Checkers won the best of five series three games to one.
In the first, it was the Charlotte Checkers that jumped in front of Toledo at 3:10 when Matt Schepke’s one-timer beat Jordan Pearce. Toledo would tie the game at 12:35 when Derek Nesbitt blasted a shot past Ryan Munce for his third playoff goal on the power play (Simon Danis-Pepin and Sebastien Piche assisting). Charlotte would retake the lead at 14:48 when David Marshall scored with the Checkers on a 5 on 3 power play. The Checkers would jump up 3-1 on Toledo at 18:34 when Matt Stefanishion placed a wrist shot under the crossbar. Toledo would close the gap to 3-2 with just two seconds left in the first period as Scooter Smith tipped Mike Hedden’s pass into the back of the net. Walleye outshot Charlotte 12-8 in the opening period.
“I loved our intensity today,” said Head Coach Nick Vitucci. “It is a shame we could not keep this series alive. In my opinion we still enjoyed a successful first season.”
Toledo would tie the game just 45 seconds in the second as Simon Danis-Pepin blasted a shot past Ryan Munce on the power play for his first playoff goal (Derek Nesbitt and Chris Robertson assisting). The Walleye would collect their first lead of the game at 16:14 when ECHL Defenseman of the Year JC Sawyer beat Munce with a wrist shot from between the circles for his second playoff goal (Joe Charlebois and Chris Robertson with the assists).
The third period saw just one goal scored. The Checkers scored at 1:42 to tie the game at 4, when Daniel Tkaczuk beat Pearce with a wrist shot. Charlotte outshot Toledo 11-6 in the third.
Toledo dominated most of the play in overtime including having a power play, but Ryan Munce kept Toledo from extending the series. At 8:10 of overtime, Tkaczuk deflected a shot past Jordan Pearce to end the Walleye season. It was a power play goal for the Checkers.
Walleye Notes: Toledo went 0-12 in games two and three on the power play, but finished game four 2-6 on the man advantage. Jordan Pearce finished with 25 saves in defeat.
