The Cincinnati Cyclones broke a scoreless tie with three third-period goals to defeat Houston 3-1 Tuesday night in the IHL at Firstar Center. The victory moves Cincinnati into second place in the Eastern Conference.

        “We knew we needed to get the two points tonight,” Byron Ritchie said. “It was a playoff type game. There was a lot of hitting tonight.”

        Ritche had a goal and two assists, including a helper on Greg Koehler's winning goal. Gilbert Dionne scored his 22nd goal of the year, lifting him into second on the Cyclones' career goal list, ahead of Paul Lawless and trailing only Don Biggs.

        Houston ....... 0  0  1—1

        Cincinnati ....... 0  0  3—3

        1st Period: No scoring.

        2nd Period: No scoring.

        3rd Period: 1. Cin, Dionne 28 (Tselios, Ritchie) 14:12; 2. Cin Koehler 32 (Dionne, Ritchie) 15:50 pp; 3. Hou, Janssens 2 (McCann, Hollis) 17:50; 4. Cin, Ritchie 28 (Koehler) 18:50.

        Shots: Cin 39, HOU 26; Saves: Cin (Pelletier) 25, Hou (Elliott) 36.

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