Anderson Perfect Again As Admirals Thrash Swamp Rabbits

GREENVILLE, SC. - The Norfolk Admirals (10-20-4-0) continued their blazing 2017 by throttling the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (18-15-2-1) on Friday by a score of 5-0.

Zach Pochiro wasted no time opening the evening's scoring, finding the back of the net just nine seconds in. The second fastest goal in Admirals history came after Brodie Dupont won the opening faceoff back to Frankie Simonelli, who immediately fired it across to Joey Benik on the left wing. With zing, the rookie snuck a pass towards a streaking Dupont who was crashing the net, where he would deposit it over to Pochiro. #14 had no problem beating Jeff Malcolm upstairs to give his team the 1-0 lead early.

After a few more moments of controlling Admirals play, Nick MacNeil doubled that lead to 2-0. On a sequence prior in the shift, T.J. Foster and John Dunbar came within just inches of burying a two-on-one, however Foster pushed it just wide. Greenville would regain possession but the Admirals would take it right back and this time Foster's attempted pass back out front from behind the net ricocheted off of MacNeil's skate and in.

In the second period the Norfolk momentum continued as newcomer Joey Benik earned his first ECHL goal. After a Brodie Dupont faceoff win in the attacking zone, Benik found the puck along the wall, worked his way towards the slot area and uncontested beat Malcolm to push the Admirals lead to 3-0. Zach Pochiro picked up the other assist on the tally, giving everyone on that line their second point of the night.

3-0 became 4-0 in the third when Ben Murphy struck for his sixth of the season. The Massachusetts-born forward entered the zone and routinely unleashed a wrister that cracked Swamp Rabbits goaltender Jeff Malcolm square in the mask. Unbeknownst to him, the puck's momentum carried up and over his body and fell into the net.

The final tally of the evening came from the line that opened the marks on the score sheet. With Joey Benik coming down the left wing, he centered a pass for reigning ECHL Player of the Week, Brodie Dupont. Dupont rolled the puck over with his backhand and beat Malcolm on the blocker side to conclude the evening's scoring at 5-0.

Albeit it was not his toughest effort of the season, Admirals netminder Brandon Anderson recorded his second straight shutout along the way, turning aside all 17 he faced. The former Southern Professional Hockey League call up has now had a perfect stretch of 167:34 without allowing a tally.

The Admirals and Swamp Rabbits will meet once again tomorrow night in Greenville at 7:00. You can listen to the game on 102.1 FM The Tide and watch the game on ECHL.TV, or at Buffalo Wild Wings on the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach.

Following the current road trip the Admirals will return home for six home games leading up to February 1. On Friday, January 20th the Admirals will host Roll Back The Clock Night and Pucks and Paws, followed by Pink in the Rink on Saturday the 21st. Tickets for all games are on sale now on Ticketmaster.com and the Norfolk Scope Box Office. For more information on the team, visit norfolkadmirals.com and follow/like the team on all major social media networks.Box Score