Coachella Valley Eliminates Tucson in Game Three, Will Face Colorado in Round Two
The Firebirds defeated the Tucson Roadrunners on Sunday afternoon by the final score of 5-1 to advance to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Coachella Valley was backed by four first period goals and will now face the Colorado Eagles in round two beginning this Wednesday in Loveland, CO.
Coachella Valley came out of the gate with fire, netting four goals in the game’s first 7:22. Ville Petman broke open the scoring, potting home a rebound just 3:49 in. The goal was Petman’s first professional postseason goal and was assisted by Carsen Twarynski and Austin Poganski.
The Firebirds extended their lead at 5:56. David Goyette knocked down an attempted clear by the Roadrunners and settled down the puck. Goyette made a quick pass to Shane Wright at the top of the circle and Wright’s one-time flew past Ivan Prosvetov to make it 2-0. Wright and Goyette each picked up their first professional playoff point on the goal.
Kole Lind added to the lead just 29 seconds after Wright scored. Lind cut down the wing and wristed a shot through Prosvetov to make it 3-0 Firebirds. Alexander True and Gustav Olofsson were awarded the assists on Lind’s second goal of the postseason.
Tye Kartye capped off the first period fireworks with a wrist shot. Cameron Hughes found Kartye in the slot who made no mistake for his second goal of the postseason. Jeremy McKenna logged his second point of the playoffs with the secondary assist. Ivan Prosvetov was replaced by Tyler Parks after the goal.
Kole Lind added an empty netter at 10:52 of the third period after the Roadrunners pulled Parks for the extra attacker. Lind’s second of the game was assisted by Alexander True. Tucson found a late powerplay goal from Adam Cracknell to get the Roadrunners on the board at 17:32.
Daccord made 29 saves in the Firebirds’ series clincher. Coachella Valley’s powerplay finished 0-for-2 and the penalty kill went 1-for-2.
Read the game’s full box score HERE.
See the schedule for round two below:
Pacific Division Semifinals (best-of-five) Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 26 – Coachella Valley at Colorado, 6:05pm PT Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 27 – Coachella Valley at Colorado, 6:05pm PT Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 30 – Colorado at Coachella Valley, 3pm PT *Game 4 – Wed., May 3 – Colorado at Coachella Valley, 7pm PT *Game 5 – Fri., May 5 – Colorado at Coachella Valley, 7pm PT *if necessary
The Firebirds went 2-0-2-0 against the Eagles during the regular season, with two games taking place at Acrisure Arena and two games at Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, CO. Coachella Valley won both home contests but fell in overtime in the two games played in Colorado.
Tickets are available for games three, four, and five of the second round of the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs through Ticketmaster and at the Acrisure Arena box office. Individual game tickets begin at just $19 and groups of 10 or more start at only $18.
Season tickets for the Firebirds’ 2023-24 campaign are on sale now! For a full list of benefits and more information on Season Ticket Memberships for the 2023-24 season, click HERE or call 760-835-8778.