WHEELING, WV – The Greenville Road Warriors will face an elimination game on Saturday night after losing to the Wheeling Nailers in Game Four Friday night, 2-1. In an effort to even the series at two games each the Road Warriors got off to the exact start they wanted in the first period. It was a goal from Sean Berkstresser at the 4:40 mark that put Greenville ahead by a 1-0 count. Chirs Chappell and Chris McKelvie earned the assists on the play. At the midway point of the period, Andrew Orpik matched Berkstresser’s goal and tied the game for Wheeling. Greenville had a good chance late to re-take the lead as Doug Rogers took a high-sticking minor with 3:16 left to play. Peter Delmas and the Nailers’ penalty killers kept Greenville off the board and the game remained tied heading into the second.
In the middle frame Wheeling out-shot Greenville in a period for the first time in the series and used one of those shots to take a 2-1 advantage. After circling the Greenville net, Mikael Bedard attempted to center a pass that deflected off a body in front and got past Greenville’s Chris Beckford-Tseu. The goal came at the 7:13 mark of the period with assists going to Orpik and Dan Henningson.
Down by one, the Road Warriors were on the hunt for the tying goal in a big way. They sent 13 shots, a game-high in a period, on net. Despite their best efforts, and Beckford-Tseu pulled for the extra attacker late, they could not feed a shot across the line and sustained the one-goal defeat.
The win gives Wheeling a big advantage heading into tonight’s Game Five. A Wheeling win will clinch the semi-final series for the Nailers and send the Road Warriors home for the season. A Greenville win will force Game Six, which will be played in Greenville on Tuesday, April 26. The Road Warriors must be able to find a way to score on Wheeling’s Peter Delmas, who thus far has played a phenominal series in the net for the Nailers.
If they can do that, then they will live to play another day and bring the series back to home ice in Greenville.
Contact Ryan.Kouvolo@prohockeynews.com
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