Poor goaltending by Derek Collins in the first half was too much for the Ottawa Rebel's inept offense to overcome, as they fell to the Albany Attack in Albany's home opener, 14-7, in front of a disappointingly-small crowd of 4,921.

Game MVP Ted Dowling had four goals, including three in a six-minute, 6-0 Attack run to end the first half. The run changed a competitive 4-4 game into a 10-4 runaway by halftime. Ottawa scored only three goals in the second half on the way to the franchise' twentieth consecutive road loss.

Ottawa goaltender Derek Collins looked terrible, giving up eight goals on only 26 shots before being pulled in favor of Ross Cowie late in the second quarter. Cowie tried to hold the Rebel in the game, allowing only one goal until early in the fourth quarter, including some spectacular breakaway saves, ending with 37 saves on 43 shots. Blasdell had an easy night in the Albany net, stopping 28 of just 35 shots fired his way.

Albany had jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, thanks to three first-quarter power play goals, but Ottawa fought their way back to a 4-4 tie when Ryan Sanderson took a five minute major for boarding.

Dowling added two assists to his four goal performance for a six-point night, while teammate Josh Sanderson had two goals and four assists. Chris Konopliff led Ottawa with three points, all assists, while Kris Bryde added one goal and two assists.

Attack owner Herb Chorbajian was disappointed with the game's scant attendance. "I was hoping to have a bigger crowd than that," Chorbajian said. "If I had a goal, I probably would have said 6,500. The weather was good, but I don't know if the threat of [bad] weather or the holiday weekend [kept people away]."

Ottawa will now gear up for their home opener against Toronto, which crushed the Rebel in a 17-7 decision at Air Canada Centre last week. Albany will next face the New York Saints, who will be ending a two-game road trip after this week's trip to Columbus.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Ottawa Rebel (0-2)                    1  3  2  1  --   7
Albany Attack (1-0)                   4  6  1  3  --  14

OTTAWA REBEL                  ALBANY ATTACK
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Stevenson      1 - 2     3    Dowling        4 - 3     7
Konopliff      0 - 3     3    J Sanderson    1 - 5     6
Finstad        2 - 0     2    Teat           3 - 2     5
Evans          1 - 1     2    Santos         1 - 3     4
Bryde          0 - 2     2    Rosyski        2 - 1     3
Halladay       1 - 0     1    Woods          1 - 2     3
Parkin         1 - 0     1    R Sanderson    0 - 3     3
Roy            1 - 0     1    Cordingley     1 - 1     2
                              Gibson         1 - 0     1
                              Blasdell       0 - 1     1
                              MacDonell      0 - 1     1
                              Regan          0 - 1     1
                              P Sanderson    0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           37    Shots on goal           64
Saves made by (GA)      50    Saves made by (GA)      30
   Cowie (6)         35          Blasdell (7)      30
   Collins (8)       15
Penalties               10    Penalties                8
Penalty Minutes         31    Penalty Minutes         22
Power Play Chances       7    Power Play Chances       5
Power Play Goals         3    Power Play Goals         3
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        0
Loose Balls             74    Loose Balls             99
   Finstad            9          P Sanderson       17
   Stevenson          9          Woods             14
   Evans              7          Fannell            8
   Konopliff          7          J Sanderson        8
   Parkin             7
Faceoffs Won             9    Faceoffs Won            16
   Stevenson    ( 6- 9)          Fannell      (16- 9)
   Konopliff    ( 2- 6)
   Evans        ( 1- 1)

*** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH OTTAWAREBEL.COM ***