FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 3, 2020

IACOPELLI PICKS UP A PAIR OF POINTS IN LOSS AT TOLEDO

Forward Matheson Iacopelli nets early goal and adds late assist as K-Wings fall 6-2 to the Walleye to open 2020.

Box Score

TOLEDO, OH – A two-point game from forward Matheson Iacopelli highlighted an otherwise rough start to 2020 for the Kalamazoo Wings (12-16-3-0), who fell 6-2 to the Toledo Walleye (19-9-3-0) Friday at Huntington Center.

The Walleye struck early, when Steve Oleksy flipped a wrist shot into traffic from the right point and it fooled K-Wings goaltender Jake Hildebrand 44 seconds in. Kalamazoo answered less than two minutes later when Iacopelli banked a shot in off of the back of Toledo goalie Billy Christopoulos.

Justin Buzzeo then scored back-to-back goals to put Toledo up 3-1 after one. The first was from a similar spot as Iacopelli’s goal, beneath the goal line. The second goal came with just 2:09 left in the period on a Kalamazoo turnover from the corner. Buzzeo lifted a backhander into the top of the net.

Toledo added some insurance with another goal in the second period, when Shane Berschbach won a battle in the corner and set up Josh Kestner for a tap-in to make it 4-1.

Kestner finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play late in a Walleye power play for his second of the game five minutes into the third period to bring the score to 5-1, and Branden Troock scored on a 3-on-1 for the sixth Toledo goal. Jake Kielly entered the game at that point, replacing Hildebrand, and the rookie goaltender stopped all nine shots the rest of the way.

Iacopelli picked up his second point early in Kalamazoo’s second power play, setting up David Pope for a one-timer in the right circle to make it 6-2 late. The goal extended the K-Wings streak of seven straight games with a power play goal, as Kalamazoo went 1-for-2 Friday night.

The K-Wings travel to Fort Wayne Saturday for a 7:35 p.m. tilt against the Komets. Catch all the action on 1660 AM in Kalamazoo or on ECHL TV online, with pregame coverage starting at 7:15.

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Kalamazoo Wings 3-Packs are now available online! Reserve your tickets for the three biggest games in the best seats with the best eats. Visit kwings.com for more information about all the perks that come with a K-Wings 3-Pack!

The Kalamazoo Wings are a professional hockey team located in southwest Michigan that has been a staple in the Kalamazoo, MI professional sports landscape since 1974. The K-Wings compete in the ECHL and are the AA affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks. Kalamazoo plays their 36 regular season home games at Wings Event Center from October through April.

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