Rookie Niko Dimitrakos four-point night would lead the Cleveland Barons to a 7- 2 win over the Syracuse Crunch in front of 3,779 fans Wednesday night at the Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter.

The Barons would jump out of the gates quickly in this one, notching their first of the evening just 3:23 into the first period. Graig Mischler would deflect a Scott Thomas pass by Karl Goehring for his first of the season and a 1-0 Cleveland lead.

That would only be a sign of things to come for the Barons on this night as they would tally once more in the first and four more in the second to take a commanding 6-1 lead after two periods.

Cleveland's fourth goal, scored by forward Chad Wiseman at the 6:55 mark of the second, would chase the reigning Sher-Wood AHL player of the week Karl Goehring from the Crunch net after allowing four goals on 15 shots. Prior to this game, Goehring had only allowed one goal in his last 320 minutes and 18 seconds.

Graig Mischler would record a hat-trick for Cleveland, his first three goals of the season . Jim Fahey would add a goal and an assist and Miroslav Zalesak and Jeff Nelson would each add a couple assists for Cleveland, who won for the first time on the road since October 30th, a span of five games.

Blake Bellefeuille and Matt Dzieduszycki would tally for the Crunch. The loss snaps Syracuse's modest two-game winning streak and enables the Barons to tie the Crunch for third place in the Central Division.

The Crunch return to action on Friday, November 29, when the Crunch host the Binghamton Senators. Friday night is also Coca-Cola Thunder on Ice Night, when the first 2,000 fans in attendence will receive a pair of thunderstix, courtesy of Coca-Cola and Time Warner. Game time is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling the Crunch office at (315) 473- 4444, stopping by the Oncenter Box Office, located on the State Street side of the War Memorial or by calling TicketMaster at (315) 472-0700.

 

Cleveland 2 4 1-7

Syracuse 0 1 1-2

First Period-Scoring-1,Cleveland, Mischler 1, (Thomas),3:23.2,Cleveland,Fahey 3, (Nelson,Dimitrakos),19:32(pp).
Penalties-Nedorost,Syr. (holding),5:38; Mulick,Cle. (tripping),9:50; Clouthier,Cle. (tripping),12:42; Sloan,Syr. (roughing),18:39.

Second Period-Scoring-3,Cleveland, Dimitrakos 8,(Fahey,Nelson),2:06, (pp).4,Cleveland,Wiseman 3, (Cheechoo),6:55. 5, Syracuse,Bellefeuille 1, (Darche,Bicanek),9:50,(pp). 6,Cleveland,Mischler 2, (Dimitrakos,Zalesak),10:51. 7,Cleveland Dimitrakos 9,(Nelson,Cheechoo),16:35, (pp).
Penalties-Cull,Syr. (holding),1:20; LaPlante,Cle.major (fighting),2:10; McDonell,Syr.major (fighting),2:10; Cull,Syr. (Interference),3:07; Jakopin,Cle. (roughing),7:52; Nielsen,Syr.(high- stick),16:12; LaPlante,Cle. (roughing),16:43; Reich,Syr. (unsportsmanlike),(served by Ling),16:43; Loyns,Cle.(hooking),18:47.

Third Period-Scoring-8,Syracuse, Dzieduszycki 4(Nedorost), 17:45,(sh). 9, Cleveland, Mischler 3, (Zalesak,Fibiger),18:34,(pp).
Penalties-Fahey,Cle.minor,major, (instigating,fighting,misconduct),2:55; Reich,Syr.minor,major (interference,fighting),2:55; Loyns,Cle. (hooking),3:13; Loyns,Cle.major (fighting),6:12; Ling,Syr.major,game misconduct(fighting), 6:12; Carkner,Cle. (unsportsmanlike),10:05; Bicanek,Syr. (unsportsmanlike),10:05; Bellefeuille,Syr.(elbowing),11:54; Laplante,Cle.major,game-misconduct (fighting),15:31; Reich,Syr.major (fighting),15:31; Schill,Syr.major(high- stck),16:31.

Shots On Goal-Cleveland,9-12-2-24;

Syracuse,9-5-9-23.

Power Play Opportunities-Cleveland, 4 of 7; Syracuse, 1 of 6. Goalies-Cleveland,Toskala (5-6-0),shots-

saves; Syracuse, Goehring (5-2-0),15 shots-11 saves, Leclaire (2-6-1), in at 13:05 of second, 9 shots-6 saves.

A-3,779

Referee-Bob Landgon;Linesmen-Michael Baker, BJ Ringrose.