NORFOLK, VA – Alex Rodriguez scored two goals and added an assist as the Norfolk Admirals edged the Greenville Swamp Rabbits Saturday Night at Scope. Ben Duffy also added a goal for the Admirals. The Admirals finish the season with a record of 27-36-6-3 and 63 points.
Norfolk jumped out front early with a goal from Rodriguez. Mitch Hall played the puck around the boards for Darian Romanko. Romanko dropped a pass back into the circle for Rodriguez who shot the puck over the stick of Kyle Hayton and into the net to give Norfolk a 1-0 lead at 2:02 of the first period.
The Admirals extended their lead with a goal from Christian Horn. Eric Roy played the puck out of his own defensive zone. Roy found Luke Nogard who tipped the pass to Horn skating through the neutral zone. Horn entered the Greenville zone and fired off a shot that beat Hayton to the stick side to give Norfolk a 2-0 lead at 4:41 of the first period.
Norfolk would strike again courtesy of Rodriguez once again. Greenville was not able to clear the puck out of their zone which led to an opportunity for Norfolk. Domenic Alberga received a pass in the right circle. Alberga fired a one touch pass to Darik Angeli in the left circle. Angeli then fed a pass back-door to Rodriguez who had an easy tap-in goal to give Norfolk a 3-0 lead at 15:43 of the first period.
Greenville got on the board with a late goal from Austen Brassard. Kamerin Nault got the puck after it was played around the boards by Michael Pelech. Nault found Brassard who fired off a shot which beat Ty Reichenbach between the legs to cut the Norfolk lead to 3-1 at 17:34 of the second period.
The Swamp Rabbits cut the Norfolk lead to 3-2 with a goal from Michael Pelech. Zach Franko played a puck to Pelech at the side of the Norfolk net. Pelech back-handed a shot that beat Reichenbach to make the score 3-2 at 6:50 of the third period.
Greenville would tie the game with a power-play goal from Brendan Harms. Clint Lewis played the puck from the right point to Adam Larkin. Larkin passed the puck into the left circle for Harms, who shot the puck and beat Reichenbach between the legs to tie the game at three goals apiece.
The Admirals reclaimed their one-goal lead with a goal from Ben Duffy. Mitch Ferguson played the puck to Alex Rodriguez as he entered the Greenville zone. Rodriguez played a pass to Duffy who fired off a backhand shot over the glove of Hayton to give Norfolk a 4-3 lead.
Norfolk would hang on and win by a 4-3 final score. Reichenbach made 34 saves on 27 shots to win his 22nd game of the year while Hayton made 19 saves on 23 shots to take the loss for Greenville.
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