 
|
|||||||||||||
              
|
Sunday, February 13, 2000 By Paul Zeise, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Most of the 5,217 fans who attended the CrosseFire's game with Buffalo last night at Mellon Arena were probably hoping they'd leave the game with a free ticket in hand.
They didn't, but they probably weren't disappointed, either.
The CrosseFire scored seven goals in a span of 3:52 in the third quarter to blow open a one-goal game and then hung on for a 17-14 victory on "guaranteed victory night." The win meant the team improved to 3-3 and it didn't have to give a free ticket to everyone in attendance.
The run of goals was the kind that CrosseFire Coach John Tucker said the fans should come to expect now that the team has newly acquired forward Paul Gait. He also said every offensive possession starts with good defense.
"That is getting back to the way we played last year," Tucker said. "We have a lot of firepower and when we start scoring goals in bunches it is tough for other teams to slow us down.
"Now that we have Paul, well, we will only become more dangerous because he is one of the best offensive players in the league. But as proud as I am of the way that offensive sequence was, it was made possible by us shutting them down. If we can do that consistently, there is no telling how many goals we can score."
Paul Gait joined the team late in the afternoon, but it didn't take him long to make his presence felt. Despite feeling a bit fatigued from having to play a game in Albany, N.Y., the night before for Syracuse, his former team, Gait scored six points on three goals and three assists and was named the game's most valuable player.
Gait said he has wanted to play for the CrosseFire since the beginning of the season and any fatigue he might have felt was trumped by his adrenaline.
"Oh, I was so excited," Gait said. "I've wanted to be a part of this because it is a championship caliber team and also to have the chance to play with my brother [Gary Gait]. So, yeah, it is tough having to come here after playing back to back, but that didn't bother me. I was so eager to get out there and play I really felt good."
Gary Gait led the team with nine points on two goals and seven assists, and Joe Hiltz scored four goals and had one assist, but on this night it was Paul Gait who stole the show.
He notched the 300th goal of his career and first in a CrosseFire uniform with 6:11 left in the second quarter for a 6-5 lead. Buffalo's Chris Prat responded a minute later to pull the Bandits even at 6-6. The CrosseFire's Paul Cantabene scored the final goal of the period for a 7-6 advantage at halftime.
Paul Gait started a big run two minutes into the third quarter with his second goal of the game, and the CrosseFire reeled off six more goals, four of which were either scored or assisted by the Gaits, to take a 14-6 lead with nine minutes left. Gait earned the 500th point of his career when he assisted on Jesse Hubbard's goal at 6:14, the final score of the decisive run.
The game seemed to be in hand, but the CrosseFire turned sloppy and took some penalties as the Bandits stormed back with a 7-1 run to cut the deficit to 15-13 with eight minutes left in the game.
Paul Gait scored his third, assisted by his brother, as the CrosseFire took a three-goal lead. Gary Gait finished off the Bandits with his second goal and the CrosseFire held on to win.
"The reason they got back into the game is because we started doing the same old things that have caused us problems all year," Tucker said. "We didn't put them away, but thankfully, we have Paul and Gary who are veterans and want the ball at crunch time and they came through."
|
||||||||||||
