The Chargers clinched the top seed in the College Hockey America tournament with a split on the road at the University of Findlay. The Chargers were stunned on Friday night, losing to the Oilers for the first time ever, 5-4 in overtime. However, the Chargers clinched first place after Niagara was beaten by Air Force on Friday. Then, on Saturday, the Chargers rebounded to shut the Oilers out 4-0.
The Chargers finished the regular season with a 20-11-1 record overall and 15-4-1 in the CHA.
On Friday, the Chargers blew a 4-2 lead in the third period en route to the shocking loss. Trailing 1-0 in the first period, Jessi Otis tied the game with a power-play goal at the 6:00 mark. Findlay reclaimed the lead on a goal by Jeff Seeds and took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
In the second period, Tyler Butler tied the game at 2-all with a goal at 12:15. The score remained tied into the third period when the defenses went on vacation.
Goals by Kevin Ridgeway and Karlis Zirnis staked the Chargers to the 4-2 lead with less than 10 minutes left in the game. Then, the bottom fell out. Jason Maxwell scored a goal at 10:25 to cut the lead to 4-3. A little over a minute later, the Oilers tied the score with a short-handed goal by Steve Traver.
The game would go into overtime. In the extra period, Findlay got the win on a goal by Jason Weeger. It was the Oilers' first win over UAH in 13 tries. It was another frustrating loss for the Chargers who outshot the Oilers 50-24 in the game.
In the second game, the Chargers outshot the Oilers 47-23. This time, the UAH defense would completely shut the door on the home team. Freshman goalie Adam MacLean earned his first career shutout with 23 saves.
The game was marred with a pile of penalties. The two teams combined for 41 penalties and 157 penalty minutes. It all came to a head with a skirmish midway through the third period. Eight different players received game disconduct penalties. However, none were disqualifications.
Ron Baker scored a pair of goals for the Chargers. Dwayne Blais and Otis added the other goals for the Chargers, who finished the regular season winning 12 of their last 14 CHA games.
The Chargers did all of their damage in the first two periods on Saturday. Blais scored the first goal at the 16:19 mark of the opening period. Then, with two and half minutes left in the first, Baker scored his 12th goal of the season to give UAH a 2-0 lead.
A little less than six minutes into the second period, Baker struck again on a power-play goal, giving the Chargers a 3-0 advantage. Otis rounded out the scoring with another power-play goal with eight and a half minutes left in the second period.
Next Series: CHA Tournament, March 8-10 at the Von Braun Center
