Playoff picture fuzzy as Chargers fall

Mike Anderson, UAH Sports Information

The Alabama-Huntsville hockey team took a season-high 41 penalty minutes, and were a disappointing 0-for-9 on the power play, as they fell to Bemidji State 3-1 Friday night in College Hockey America play.

The loss dropped the Chargers to 12-6-1 in conference play, and 18-11-2 overall. The Beavers moved to 11-7-1 in the CHA, and 17-13-3 overall.

Rob Sirianni, returning to the Bemidji State lineup after recouperating from injury, got the Beavers on the board to start things off midway through the first period. The Charger offense then stalled, as the Boys in Blue were called for four consecutive penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct called on junior defenseman Mike Salekin (Castlegar, B.C.) after disputing a call from the penalty box.

Sirianni was in on the Beavers second goal as well, as he fed the puck to a wide-open Garrett Roth for the two-goal advantage. Penalties continued to be the story of the second period, as both teams had seven power play opporutnities in the first forty minutes.

The Beavers began to shell up a bit in the third period, and it was a lapse in the defensive end by Bemidji State that allowed Bruce Mulherin (Red Deer, Alb.) to pick up the puck and rifle it past Beaver goaltender Layne Sedevie to cut the lead in half with time waning in the third period. The Chargers couldn't keep the pressure going, as Beavers captain Jean-Guy Gervais went on a two-on-one, shot five-hole and, while Charger netminder Scott Munroe (Moose Jaw, Sask.) got a piece of the puck, he didn't get enough and the Beavers went back up by two.

The final 91 seconds were an interesting time, as both teams got called for some interesting penalties. After the Beavers' Sirianni got called for kneeing Scott Kalinchuk (Bowsman, Man.), Brett McConnachie (Ajax, Ont.) got the gate for a check from behind on Andrew Martens just 13 seconds later, putting the teams four-on-four. Riley Weslowski took a roughing penalty with 51 seconds remaining, but the Chargers could not score with the man-advantage, and fell by the 3-1 final.

Munroe had 26 saves in the loss for the Chargers, dropping his record to 16-9-2. Sedevie stopped 27 of 28 Charger shots in the win, improving to 9-6-1. It was the Chargers' third loss in their last five games, and their third consecutive road defeat.

The loss, combined with a Niagara win Friday night, complicates the playoff picture for the Chargers. The Chargers will clench a share of the Peters Cup, the CHA regular-season championship, with a win Saturday. However, a loss will drop them to a #3 seed in the conference tournament, meaning the Chargers will lose the all-important bye into the tournament semi-finals.

The Chargers and Beavers conclude their respective regular seasons Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. in Bemidji, Minn.

UAH-Bemidji State Box Score