Monarchs Sweep Away Admirals with 4-2 Victory

MANCHESTER, NH – Zac Larraza and Maxim Kitsyn scored two goals each, and the Manchester Monarchs beat the Norfolk Admirals, 4-2, Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

The Monarchs (9-6-0-0) swept the three-game-series with the Admirals (5-12-0-0), and vaulted into second place in the East Division.

“I thought we started the game quite well,” Head Coach Rich Seeley said. “When we played the way we wanted to play, we had good energy.  Ultimately when it came down to it, we battled hard, and got a good win.”

Larraza opened the scoring for the Monarchs at 2:36 in the first period, netting his 5^th goal of the season. Matt White set the play up by finding Larraza who shot the puck towards Norfolk goaltender, Ty Rimmer, and it deflected into the net off the inside of the goalie’s right pad for the 1-0 lead.

The Monarchs extended the lead, 2-0, at 12:55 in the first period, when Maxim Kitsyn tallied his 5^th goal of the season. Alex Roach battled along the boards to get the puck to Kitsyn fired the puck glove-side past Rimmer.

Norfolk bounced back in the second period at 18:22, when Quinn Smith scored his first professional goal, an unassisted five-hole tally through Monarchs goaltender, Michael Houser.

Steven Whitney evened the game for Norfolk with a power-play goal at 3:19 in the third period, scoring his 3^rd of the season.  Whitney was in the slot and found the loose puck off of a Michael Pelech shot and put it past Houser high stick-side.

The Monarchs took the lead at 11:32 in the third period, when Larraza scored his second goal of the game. Rimmer went behind the net to play the puck off of a hard-around, but the puck took a funny bounce off the end-boards directly into the crease and Larraza was there to push the puck in the unoccupied net for what proved to be the game-winner.

Kitsyn netted his 2^nd of the night with an empty net goal at 19:46 in the third period, to solidify the 4-2 win.

The Monarchs are back on the ice Tuesday, Nov. 24 (7:05 p.m.), as they visit the Atlanta Gladiators in Georgia for the first of two games with the Gladiators.

Notes

• Two Monarchs (Larraza and Kitsyn) scored twice in the same game for the first time this season
• Manchester earned their first  three-game win streak of the season
• The Monarchs outscored Norfolk, 11-4, in the series
  

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