Solid goaltending, last minute goal lead Chargers to victory

Mike Anderson, UAH Sports Information

	Junior forward David Nimmo slides the puck past OSU goaltender David Caruso in Friday night's game. (George Olden)

The Chargers knew they had their work cut out for them when they entered the Value City Arena Friday night to take on the Buckeyes of the Ohio State University. After being outshot almost two-to-one and taking twice the penalties of the Buckeyes, the Chargers still found the edge and took the victory by a score of 4-3.

Scott Munroe (Moose Jaw, Sask.) was tested early, as early in the first the Buckeyes were able to work the puck low and feed it around to Johann Kroll, who was unable to get the shot past the senior netminder. He got another chance from the slot on the ensuing faceoff, and even through a screen Munroe was up to the task. Overall, the Buckeyes controlled play for the first ten minutes of the contest. The Chargers went on a short rush with Todd Bentley (Livonia, Mich.) getting a shot opportunity, but a Scott Kalinchuk (Bozeman, Man.) holding penalty put the Boys in Blue on the defensive once more. Bruce Mulherin (Red Deer, Alb.) had a great chance to shoot on an open net when Ohio State goaltender David Caruso got ahead pushing the puck up, but Mulherin's shot was blocked by Nate Guenin and the score remained nil.

The Chargers got on the board halfway through the first period when the "Scooter" line of Kevin Galerno (Ayr, Ont.), Josh Murray (Terrace, B.C.) and Tyler Hilbert (Okotoks, Alb.) worked the puck free in neutral territory. Murray took the puck across the blue line and fired a low-angle shot five hole against Caruso to open the scoring. Hilbert and Jeremy Schreiber assisted on Murray's second tally of the year. The "Scooter" line got a second chance as time was winding down. Hilbert took a pass low from Murray, who snuck to the backside of the crease, but Caruso never let the pass get across.

Ohio State had another power play opportunity late in the first frame, with Jeff Winchester (Dalhousie, N.B.) going in for an interference call. The Buckeyes had several chances in the twenty seconds, but couldn't put anything past Munroe before the period expired. The penalties continued to mount up in the second, as the Chargers gave up three power play opportunities in the first seven minutes of the second frame.

Munroe flashed the leather once again in the second as Beaudoin found himself behind the Charger defense and picked up a pass on the blue line to race in on the breakaway. He tried high glove side, but Munroe was right there with the catch to maintain the one-goal advantage. Unfortunately, the fourth power play of the period broke up his shutout bid, as Matt Waddell sent in a shot from the point, and Andrew Schembri was right there to clean up the garbage in the rebound to tie the game up at one goal apiece.

The Chargers answered right back with 7:57 remaining in the second, as Mike Salekin (Castlegar, B.C.) took a Kalinchuk pass from the faceoff across and buried it for his third of the season to regain the one-goal lead. The Buckeyes' frustration was met with a five minute major penalty to Bryce Anderson on the ensuing play under the season's checking from behind intitative, meaning Anderson was shown the gate. It became a two-man advantage when Kroll was whistled for holding just 45 seconds later. David Nimmo (St. Albert, Alb.) made the Buckeyes by completing the tic-tac-toe play. Shaun Arvai (West Lorne, Ont.) found Salekin, who sent the puck down to Nimmo to beat Caruso stick side at the post to make it a 3-1 game.

Penalties continued to punish the Chargers as a two-man advantage early in the third period allowed Rod Pelley to find the back of the net to knock the Charger lead to a single talley. Domenic Mainai completed the comeback cleaning up a Kroll rebound to knot the contest at three with 14 minutes remaining. The Chargers allowed the emotion to get the best of them, as Mulherin and Salekin picked up penalties to create another five-on-three opportunity for the Buckeyes.

Just as the rainclouds were descending in the Value City Arena for the Chargers, and things seemed grim, Steve Canter (St. Louis) descended from the blue line with a pool-shot pass off the glass from Salekin on a clearing attempt, deked backhand, drew the puck to his forehand side and beat Caruso as he was falling to the ice to make it a 4-3 game. The Buckeyes called a timeout to get Caruso out of the net, but the Chargers were strong in the final 44 seconds, and held on for the one-goal victory.

Munroe was steller in net, stopping 52 of 55 shots in the victory, just four saves away from a career best. Caruso had 22 saves in the loss. The win keeps the Chargers' record against the Buckeyes perfect at 2-0 all-time.

The teams complete the two-game series Saturday night at Value City Arena.
UAH-Ohio State Box Score