Admirals Let Lead Slip Away; Lose In Overtime

NORFOLK, VA - The Manchester Monarchs (6-4-0-1) rallied to score four unanswered to beat the Norfolk Admirals (1-7-2-0) 5-4 in overtime on Friday. The Admirals would draw first blood over the visiting Monarchs, as Nick MacNeil notched his third goal of the season on an odd-man rush, with assists coming from Paul Rodrigues and Jaedon Descheneau, to give the Admirals a 1-0 lead. The Monarchs would strike back with a Cory Ward goal just two minutes later to even the game 1-1. The goal was Ward's fifth of the season, leading all Manchester players. However, before the period concluded, Jaedon Descheneau put the Admirals back in the lead off a rebound shot from Adam Phillips past Monarchs netminder Jack Flinn, and the Admirals escaped with a 2-1 lead after twenty minutes of play. The Admirals would extend their lead 3:19 into the middle frame, after Paul Rodrigues redirected a wrister off the tap of Adam Phillips. Rodrigues set the play up himself by winning the face-off to the right of Jack Flinn, leading to his first tally of the season. Later in the second the Admirals would add another, extending their lead to 4-1. Aaron Harstad earned his first goal of the year courtesy of helpers from Gabriel Verpaelst and newly returning John Kurtz. It would be the final Admirals goal of the night before the Manchester comeback began. Eventual first-star Quentin Shore would set up his teammate Alex Guptill for the strike that would cut the lead to three. The shot was not seen by Admirals netminder Connor Knapp, who had several bodies in his line of sight. Just 1:36 later Shore earned a tally of his own and first of two on the night, thanks to ECHL plus/minus leader Justin Agosta and Joe Diamond. The teams would split for the second intermission with the Admirals leading 4-3 and it would remain that way all the way until there was one minute left in regulation, when Shore would earn his next. It was Shore's fourth of the season and fourth of the night for the Monarchs, sending the game into overtime. It was the Admirals second overtime of the season and it only lasted 30 seconds longer than their last (a loss to Toledo), as Alexx Privitera buried a feed from Justin Gutierrez to give the Monarchs the 5-4 win. The Admirals will be back in action with the visiting Atlanta Gladiators tomorrow night at 7:15 PM. Tickets for Saturday night's game are on sale now and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com as well as at the Norfolk Scope box office. For more information on the team, be sure to follow and like the team on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat at (NorfolkAdmirals). Box Score