Record period leads Chargers to conference sweep

Jamie Gilliam, UAH Sports Information

	Kevin Galerno

Behind a six-goal second period, the Alabama-Huntsville hockey team finished off a two-game sweep of College Hockey America foe Air Force with a 6-3 win at the Von Braun Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Chargers got their first solid scoring chance with 8:04 remaining in the opening period when junior center David Nimmo (St. Albert, Alb.) found himself on a short-handed breakaway. Air Force’s Ian Harper stood up to the task however and snagged the attempt by Nimmo as the two teams battled to a scoreless tie at the first break.

Junior left wing Steve Canter (St. Louis) had a breakaway chance of his own with early in the second period but he pushed the shot just left of the net and the game remained scoreless as Harper stood tall. That luck would soon change however.

After picking up a dump from freshman right wing Josh Murray (Terrace, B.C.), fellow rookie center Kevin Galerno (Ayr, Ontario) opened up the scoring just a few minutes later at 3:08 of the second. Taking the puck from the corner, Galerno skated out in front and deposited a top-shelf shot over the left shoulder of Harper. The Chargers wasted little time pushing it to a two-goal margin as senior left wing Chris Martini (Calgary) banked a shot off an Air Force player with assistance from juniors Brett McConnachie (Ajax, Ont.) and Mike Salekin (Castlegar, B.C.).

The line of Galerno, Murray and sophomore left wing Derek Conter (Toronto) worked their magic again at 5:20 of the second stanza as Conter sent Harper to the bench with a tally assisted by Galerno. Less than a minute later, the Falcons made it a two-goal contest at 6:05 of the second when freshman defenseman Michael Mayra ended senior netminder Scott Munroe’s (Moose Jaw, Sask.) shutout bid.

UAH made it a 4-1 lead later in the second when McConnachie brought the puck into the Air Force zone, skated just past the slot and dropped a pass back to Nimmo, who one-timed the shot past AFA’s Peter Foster at 8:48 of the period. The UAH power play stretched it to a 5-1 margin later in the second when junior defender Shaun Arvai (West Lorne, Ont.) netted his first of the season from Nimmo and freshman center Matt Sweazey (Toronto) at 10:33.

This brought about another change in net as Air Force head coach Frank Serratore brought Harper back in between the pipes but the result would be the same as junior center Grant Selinger (Regina, Sask.) redirected a Dominik Rozman (Wallaceburg, Ont.) pass with his skate just over a minute later.

The Falcons made the Chargers pay for a pair of careless penalties after Bentley and Rozman both went to the box at 14:57 of the second. AFA’s Andrew Ramsey cashed in on the 5-on-3 power play at 16:22 with assists from Eric Ehn and Mayra. Air Force then made it 6-3 in the third when they scored another power-play tally at 13:28 of the third by junior defenseman Brian Gineo with an assist from sophomore defenseman Matt Charbonneau.

Munroe picked up the win in net for the Chargers making 30 saves in net as UAH improves to 8-7-1 overall and 4-2-0 in league play. Foster took the loss for Air Force despite playing just over four minutes in net and failing to make a save. Harper made 15 stops as the Falcons fall to 4-11-1 overall and 2-4 in the CHA.

The Chargers continue their homestand next weekend hosting CHA foe Robert Morris on Friday at 7:05 p.m. followed by a 4:05 p.m. start on Saturday.

UAH-Air Force Box Score