Rookies in the mix again as Chargers forge tie

Mike Anderson, UAH Sports Information

	Matt Sweazey had the game-tying goal with 7 minutes left to send the game to overtime. (Barry Galerno)

Sixty minutes weren't enough to hold the action Friday night in Detroit. And despite an extra frame, neither side took the upper hand as the UAH Chargers and Wayne State Warriors skated to a 2-2 tie in College Hockey America play.

The Warriors got on the board first, when a Nate Higgins shot popped off the shoulder of Charger goaltender Scott Munroe (Moose Jaw, Sask.), and Derek Punches came in to tap the puck across the line for his fourth of the season. The goal would hold clear through to the second intermission, when the Chargers found their scoring spark once again.

Josh Murray (Terrace, B.C.) and Tyler Hilbert (Okotoks, Alb.) came in a two-on-one rush, and Murray buried the puck five-hole on the Warrior's Will Hooper for his fourth marker of the year, evening the score at one. Jon Grabarek had the answer just over two minutes later, as he took a wrister from the right faceoff circle and beat Munroe top-shelf for his fifth of the year.

Matt Sweazey (Toronto) got a little help from junior Steve Canter (St. Louis), as he walked in off the faceoff and fed Sweazey on the back side to score his third of the year on a wide open net to even things at 2-2.

Things got a little chippy in the overtime session, with two penalties called on each side in the frame. Despite outshooting the Warriors 5-0 in the five-minute overtime, the Chargers failed to score and ended the game deadlocked. Munroe made 28 saves in the win, while Hooper stopped 33 of the Chargers' 35 shots.

For Wayne State, it was their third consecutive Friday night tie, as they moved to 5-13-5 overall and 2-5-4 in the CHA. UAH moved to 11-8-2 and 7-3-1 in conference. The tie pushed the Chargers into a tie with Niagara for second place in the conference.

The teams will conclude their two-game series Saturday night at 6:05.

UAH-Wayne State Box Score