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Valiant comeback for naught as Chargers fall late to Warriors
After coming back from a 6-3 deficit after two periods to tie the game at six, the Alabama-Huntsville Charger hockey squad gave up a late goal and an empty netter falling 8-6 to visiting Wayne State in College Hockey America play on Saturday night at the Von Braun Center.
Wayne State’s Nate Higgins led the offensive charge for the visitors with a natural hat trick and an assist for a four-point night. WSU’s Mike Forgie opened the scoring for the Warriors early in the contest at 3:05 of the first slipping a shot past UAH netminder Marc Narduzzi (Vancouver) for the 1-0 lead.
The Chargers answered just over ten minutes later when sophomore Josh Murray (Terrace, British Columbia) scored with assists from Dominik Rozman (Wallaceburg, Ontario) and Shaun Arvai (West Lorne, Ontario). UAH then took their first lead of the night at 19:19 of the first when freshman Brandon Roshko (Hamilton, Ontario) launched a rocket past Wayne State’s Brett Bothwell for a five-on-three power play tally from Steve Canter (St. Louis) and Kevin Morrison (Mississauga, Ontario).
UAH stretched to a two-goal lead early in the second period with a mere 50 seconds gone from the clock when senior center David Nimmo (St. Albert, Alberta) picked the pocket of a WSU defenseman and found a streaking Brett McConnachie (Ajax, Ontario) heading through the neutral zone. The right winger collected the puck with no one between him and the goal but Bothwell and converted the short-handed breakaway for a 3-1 lead.
The pendulum quickly swung in the opposite direction however as Wayne State’s Matt Krug and Jared Katz scored goals at 9:21 and 9:59 respectively to knot the game at three. Higgins then got his first of the night at 10:33 as the Warriors put in three goals in less than a minute to take a 4-3 lead. UAH skipper Doug Ross opted to go bring on sophomore netminder Jordan Erickson (Port McNeil, British Columbia) to try and stop the bleeding but the Warriors were on fire as Mark Nebus gave WSU a 5-3 lead just 18 seconds later as Wayne State scored its fourth goal in one minute and a half’s time on the clock. Higgins then scored his second of the night before the period drew to a close at 19:11 of the stanza.
Despite trailing by three goals, there was no quit in the Charger squad as they pressed hard in the third. McConnachie provided the first spark scoring an even-strengthed goal from Grant Selinger (Regina, Saskatchewan) and Scott Kalinchuk (Sylvan Lake, Alberta) at 6:48. The power play would spark the next two goals for the Chargers. Selinger would net them both with the first coming from Nimmo and Arvai at 12:13 and the second via McConnachie and Arvai at 15:26 to bring the score even at 6-6.
It would be Higgins who would be the hero for the Warriors netting an even-strengthed tally at 17:06 putting a dagger in the Chargers hopes of a valiant comeback. WSU then added an empty-net power-play goal to round out the scoring from Derek Bachynski with six seconds remaing.
Bothwell picked up the win in net for the Warriors with a 53-save performance as the Warriors earned their first win of the season improving to 1-3-0 and 1-1-0 in CHA play. Narduzzi took the loss in net for UAH returning between the pipes for the third period making 25 saves on the night as UAH falls to 1-4-1 and 1-1-0 in league play.
The Chargers do something next weekend they have not done in more then 20 years since the club hockey days as UAH heads south to play a pair of contests in the inaugural Lightning College Hockey Classic at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. UAH takes on familiar rival Air Force on Friday at 4:05 p.m. and depending on the outcome will take on either Notre Dame or Army in the second round of the tournament.
Power play leads Chargers past Warriors in home opener
Powered by four power-play goals, the Alabama-Huntsville hockey team opened home play and College Hockey America play with a 4-2 win over Wayne State on Friday night at the Von Braun Center.
The Chargers got off to a rough start at home when the Warriors struck first just twelve seconds into the contest when Tylor Michel netted his second of the year from Stavros Paskaris to take the early lead slipping a shot past sophomore netminder Jordan Erickson (Port McNeil, British Columbia).
A senior trio got the Charger offense going on the power play at 11:11 on a rocket shot from defenseman Shaun Arvai (West Lorne, Ontario) to knot things back at one goal apiece with Brett McConnachie (Ajax, Ontario) and Mike Salekin (Castlegar, British Columbia) assisting on the goal.
A pair of Warrior penalties at the close of the first period set things up for the Chargers coming out of the first break when McConnachie gave the Chargers the lead just nine seconds into the second period with the five-on-three power play tally of his own from Grant Selinger (Regina, Saskatchewan) and Arvai. The UAH lead was short lived however as the Warriors answered back three minutes later when WSU’s Nate Higgins scored his third of the season from Jason Baclig to tie things at two.
Riding a six-game point scoring streak dating back to the 2005-06 season, senior David Nimmo (St. Albert, Alberta) extended his point-scoring streak to seven games going back to last season when he assisted on a Selinger tally at 12:24 of the second that put the Chargers out in front for good.
The “Boys in Blue” took the one-goal margin into the final break having outshot the Warriors 14-11 in the second after a 12-5 UAH shot margin in the first. The third period saw the Chargers come out strong and put the game away at 7:19 when sophomore Matt Sweazey (Toronto) blasted a rocket from just outside the right faceoff circle from senior Steve Canter (St. Louis) and freshman Kevin Morrison (Mississauga, Ontario) for UAH’s fourth power-play measure of the evening.
The reigning CHA Defensive Player of the Week, Erickson was solid in net for the Chargers making 24 saves after the rocky start on the first shot of the game while his WSU counterpart, Will Hooper made 29 saves in the loss. With the win, the Chargers improve to 1-3-1 and 1-0-0 in the CHA while Wayne State falls to 0-3-0 and 0-1-0.
The two squads battle again on Saturday night with a 7:05 p.m. faceoff at the Von Braun Center.
Free club-level tickets to Lightning College Hockey Classic with season ticket purchase
Here is a special offer for all Charger Hockey fans. As you may already know by now, the UAH Hockey team will be playing in The Lightning College Hockey Classic at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida on Friday and Saturday, October 27th and 28th. The Charger hockey team will be joined in the tournament by Notre Dame, Army and Air Force.
The UAH Athletics Department is making a special offer to all Charger Hockey fans now by offering a Club Level ticket to all four games of the Lightning College Hockey Classic in Tampa, Florida for anyone who buys a 2006-2007 UAH hockey season ticket. For each season ticket purchased, fans, if interested in attending the tournament, will be given a Club level ticket to this great college hockey event. All tournament tickets must be held at Will Call at the St. Pete Times Forum until the first day of the tournament.
2006-2007 UAH Charger Hockey season tickets are $90 for adults and $72 for children. This year's home schedule includes 12 home dates at the VBC, including a weekend series against Princeton. To order your Charger Hockey season tickets stop by the VBC ticket office and ask for the Special Season ticket offer to receive your tickets for the Lightning College Hockey Classic. If you have any questions about Charger Hockey season tickets or tickets to the tournament in Tampa you can also call the UAH Athletics Department at (256) 824-6584.
Travel packages to the tournament are available in conjunction with the UAH Alumni and Advancement offices by contacting Kim Morgan at 1-800-876-3331
Embassy Suites Official Team Hotel Special Rates!!!
More info on the Lightning College Hockey Classic
