BY SCOTT LEFFLER
scott.leffler@eastniagarapost.com

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NIAGARA UNIVERSITY — The Lockport Express scored early and often Saturday night, lighting the lamp nine times on their way to their third victory of the season.

Their opponent, the Roc City Royals, found the back of the net towards the end of the game, but by then the game was out of hand — in more ways than one.

Nick Siracuse started the scoring at 6:02 of the first period. He tallied three assists on the night, as well. Alex Bottenfield followed up just shy of five minutes later at 10:52, making it 2-0 Lockport. Peter Guido made it 3-0 just a minute and 27 seconds later.

The second period started quiet, going nearly 13 minutes without a goal. But then then came in bunches. Anthony Merante opened the flood gates, scoring at 12:55, making it 4-0 Lockport. Jordan Pocobello made it 5-0 at 15:02. Sixty seconds later it was 6-0 with a goal by Ryan Logar. At 17:51, it was 7-0 Lockport with a goal by Daniel Gasiewicz.

Rochester got on the board twice in the last two minutes of the second period with goals by Wesley Austin at 18:19 and Reece Tucker at 19:54. But even with a whole period of hockey left to play, a rally was not in the cards for the Royals, who finished the second period down by five goals.

Again, the third period started slow with no scoring until more than halfway through when Mark Friol scored a four-on-four goal for Lockport at 11:52, putting them up 8-2. John Melcher closed the gap a little for Roc City with a goal at 15:34, making it 8-3. Lockport's Justin Durkee finished up the scoring at 17:39, putting Lockport of 9-3.

As the game wore on, it got scrappy. Penalty minutes added up. Scrums turned into fights. And many players were sent to the locker rooms early.

With 90 seconds to go in the game, even the crowd got scrappy, with a Roc City fan and a Lockport fan exchanging words. The same Express fan then had a shouting match with the Royals' bench before the referees asked him to leave.

Siracuse said he preferred the style of play of the Express' previous opponent, the Wilkes-Barre Miners, who play a faster paced, less gritty game.

Coach Frank Vecchio preferred the Miners, as well, saying he'd be happy if they never had to play the Royals again. Unfortunately for Vecchio, the two teams square off again at 12:30 p.m. at Rochester's Lakeshore Arena.

The teams then meet again on Oct. 18 for what is expected to be the Express' first game at Cornerstone Arena in Lockport.

With the victory Saturday night, the Express improve to 3-1 on the season, while Roc City falls to 1-4.

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