Sports Radio Service


		Mouradian wants .500 record before break By Ralph A. Gora February 24, 2005

	SAN JOSE - Coach Johnny Mouradian of the San Jose Stealth could only hope for one thing after Thursday night's thrill at the Pepsi Center, and that's a win so the Stealth can go home with a .500 record after tonight's game with the Colorado Mammoth. This is the Stealth's first trip into Denver and lost both games at HP Pavilion to the Mammoth, one last Friday night 14-6 and the other at home on Jan. 29, 12-10. The Stealth carry a 3-4 record into game No. 8 of the 2005 campaign. Mouradian says he will have to have a different game plan entering tonight's third meeting with Colorado. "One of our plans is from the opening faceoff to make an adjustment by using another player, someone who'll be strong. We'll make an adjustment there and come out with a little bit more of an opportunity by winning the face off early by dominating and by placing the ball where we want to. We have to try and attack the ball," Mouradian said. One thing that the Stealth needed a lot of last Friday was time of possession. For any one of the 5,000-plus souls at the HP Pavilion last Friday night, they knew the Stealth had trouble starting the second period and were trailing by halftime. Top names on the Stealth and Mammoth roster to look for in tonight's tilt in Denver: For San Jose, forward Gary Rosyski comes in with a team-leading 16 goals. Look for the ball to get in the netting of his stick for some shots on goal tonight. Second in team scoring for the Stealth is another forward and second of the two with double figures with 11 goals, Ryan Boyle. Rosyski has 38 total points (16 goals, 22 assists) and Boyle checks in with 28 (11-17). The Mammoth, who had mammoth leads throughout last week's tussle at the Pavilion, have two players as well in double figures in goal scoring. Gavin Prout who scored twice in the fourth period last Friday, has 14 goals, and former Stealth, who had announced his retirement at the game last Friday to an ovation of admiring fans, Gary Gait, who is wrapping up his NLL career with a double-figure season thus far at 16 goals. Face off at the Pepsi Center is at 6 p.m. tonight and this is the only Thursday night game of the season for the Stealth due to the All-Star Weekend. The All-Star Game is scheduled this Saturday in Calgary with a 1 p.m. ball drop. The Stealth open up the second half on the road as they play at America West Arena in Phoenix on Mar. 11. The ball drops at 7:30 p.m. and the teams return home the following night to HP Pavilion, also in a 7:30 start. Ralph Gora covers the Stealth and shares game story duties with Jeremy Harness and Gary Araki. Catch all three on 1430 KVVN San Jose and KLIB 1110 Sacramento.