The Colorado Eagles rallied Wednesday night for a 3-2 overtime victory over the Mississippi RiverKings at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland in Game 1 of the Northern Conference finals in the Central Hockey League playoffs.
Mississippi took a 2-0 lead into the third period after outshooting Colorado 33-15 the first two periods.
Ryan Tobler’s goal at 15:20 cut the Eagles’ deficit to 2-1. Tobler scored again at 18:15 to send the Eagles and RiverKings to overtime.
Ed McGrane scored the Eagles’ overtime goal at 6:43, his fifth goal of the postseason. It was the third straight playoff overtime win and fourth comeback win in five games for Colorado.
The Eagles host Game 2 of the best-of-seven series at 7:05 p.m. Friday.
Reno road rally beats Sky Sox.
Franklin Morales pitched six shutout innings Wednesday for Triple-A Colorado Springs, but the visiting Reno Aces rallied for a 5-2 victory over the Sky Sox in a Pacific Coast League game at Security Service Field.
Morales gave up two hits, struck out four and walked five before leaving the game with a 2-0 lead. Randy Flores (0-1) and Steven Register combined to give up five Reno runs on five hits in the eighth inning.
AFA-Minnesota game time set.
Air Force said its football game at Minnesota on Sept. 12 — the first game played at the Gophers’ new TCF Bank Stadium — will kick off at 5 p.m. Mountain time. It will be the Falcons’ first road game of the 2009 season. They open Sept. 5 at home against Nicholls State.
Toros next hurdle for 14ers.
The top-seeded Colorado 14ers will meet the fourth-seeded Austin Toros in the semifinals of the NBA Development League playoffs Saturday at the Broomfield Event Center.
Austin won the season series with Colorado 4-3, but the 14ers were 2-0 against Austin on their home court.
