Road Warriors Sneak Past Cyclones, 5-3
GREENVILLE , South Carolina – Rob Kwiet and Kyle Haines each had two goals apiece to lift the Greenville Road Warriors (9-4-0-0) to a 5-3 win over the Cincinnati Cyclones (7-1-2-0) in front of 2,582 at BI-LO Center on Saturday night.
Cincinnati took an early 1-0 lead as Dan Eves fed Garrett Wilson from behind the net and then stashed his fifth goal of the season just 2:07 into the opening period. However, Greenville found the equalizer at 4:44 when Rob Kwiet’s point shot got redirected through the legs of Cyclones goalie Brian Foster (ND, 12 saves, 7-0-2) to knot things at one after 20 minutes of play.
In the middle frame, the Road Warriors took a lead for the first time in the weekend series at 13:33 as Kyle Haines caught a pass from behind the net and one-timed it past Cincinnati’s Zoltan Hetenyi (L, 20 saves, 0-2-0-0), who relieved Foster between the pipes. At the other end, Greenville backstop Nathan Lieuwen (W, 37 saves, 5-3-0) stood on his head to keep the Road Warriors ahead. He turned aside 19 shots in the second period, helping his team carry a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
Just 5:09 into the final frame, Greenville extended their cushion to 3-1 as Haines potted his second goal of the night. Cincinnati answered back just 30 seconds later, though, as Jonathan Hazen made a great move to get by a Greenville defender and sent a shot over Lieuwen for his fourth goal of the year, making it 3-2 at 5:39. The wild third period continued as, after a string of penalties for both sides, Kwiet stepped into the left circle and blasted in his second lamp-lighter past Hetenyi at the 10:12 mark to restore the two-goal cushion. With time winding down, Cyclones forward Francois Bouchard cut the deficit to one as he cranked in his second tally of the year at 17:45, making it a 4-3 game. However, with the goalie pulled in the final minute, Greenville’s Sean Berkstresser lobbed a shot from 150 feet into the empty net to seal a 5-3 victory for the Road Warriors.
The Cyclones Radio Network Stars of the Game are as follows:
First Star: Kyle Haines (2 goals for Greenville)
Second Star: Nathan Lieuwen (37 saves for Greenville)
Third Star: Rob Kwiet (2 goals for Greenville)
The Cyclones will return to the ice at U.S. Bank Arena this Tuesday, November 13 as they host the South Carolina Stingrays on Education in Hockey Day! The special game, which meshes hockey with learning, will get underway at 10:30am. Call 513.421.PUCK (7825) to reserve your seats. Fans can also get the latest team updates throughout the season on Facebook and Twitter (@CincyCyclones).
Click here for tonight's box score.