Andrusiak's OT goal gives Cyclones win over Wings

CINCINNATI —Zack Andrusiak scored with 47 seconds left in overtime to give Cincinnati a 5-4 win over the Kalamazoo Wings in the home finale of the regular season on Saturday.

Cincinnati wrapped up the regular season with a 23-8-3-2 home record. The Cyclones can now clinch the Central Division title with one more point in the standings.

The Cyclones got an early spark from Brandon Yeamans, who dropped the gloves with Kalamazoo's Connor Fedorek 8:11 into the first. The skirmish got the Cincinnati bench and crowd of 8,201 fans at Heritage Bank Center going in the first period.

Cincinnati got on the board first following a penaltt kill, as Louie Caporusso exited the box after serving time to join Josh Passolt on an odd-man rush. Passolt streaked down the right wing before lasering a shot past Wings goalie Hunter Vorva for his 23rd goal of the season at the 11:01 mark.

Lee Lapid added to the Cyclones' lead with the help of Zach Berzolla, who finished with a pair of assists on the night.

Berzolla broke through on a breakaway, chased down his own rebound around the boardsand managed to fire a shot at Vorva. Lapid was able to knock the puck between the goalies' legs to make it 2-0.

Kalamazoo quickly responded with a goal from David Keefer who found the back of the net on a shot from the left dot and to make the score 2-1 after two periods of play.

The final period was a back-and-forth affair.

The Wings tied the game up just over a minute into the final period, as Luke Morgan managed to get the puck by Mark Sinclair on an odd angle shot. Lapid netted his second score of the night at the 9:15 mark on a power play goal.

But back came the Wings as Morgan scored his second of the night with a shot from the slot to make the score 3-3.

Andrusiak scored on a wrister from the slot to put the Cyclones back out in front with 3:45 remaining in regulation.

Kalamazoo earned a power play in the final 20 seconds of regulation on a slashing penalty by Lapid. The Wings pulled their goalie for a six-on-four advantage, and made the Cyclones play.

Sinclair was able to make a save on a shot from the point, but Wings Captain Justin Murray crashed the crease and jammed the puck through with only 7.1 seconds left, to tie it up at 4-4 and force overtime. Sinclair did his part during the three-on-three overtime period, turning aside six shots and the Cincinnati offense did theirs.

In the final minute the Cyclones got a two-on-one break that saw Andrusiak break towards the net and after a feed from Lapid, Andrusiak backhanded a shot past Vorva for the win.

Cincinnati will finish up the regular season with a three-game road trip, beginning on Easter Sunday against the Indy Fuel.