Special teams the difference in win over Colonials

Jamie Gilliam, UAH Sports Information


	Selinger

Behind solid special teams play on the power play and the penalty kill including two power-play tallies and a short-handed goal, the Alabama-Huntsville hockey team staved off a sweep by visiting College Hockey America foe Robert Morris with a 4-3 win on Sunday afternoon at the Von Braun Center.

With special teams playing as big of a part of a game as they did it was fitting that power plays provided the scoring opportunities for both squads in the opening frame. Robert Morris drew first blood at 7:07 when Chris Kaufman scored his second goal of the season from Ryan Cruthers and Aaron Clarke giving the Colonials the early 1-0 advantage. The Charger power-play unit then lit the lamp at 11:27 of the first when senior winger Steve Canter (St. Louis) beat RMU’s Chrisitan Boucher from Brandon Roshko (Long Sault, Ontario) and David Nimmo (St. Albert, Alberta)

After playing 19 minutes of relatively uneventful hockey in the second period, things heated up quickly in the final minute of play when RMU’s Cruthers scored with helpers from Clarke and Kaufman. The goal celebration quickly became a scrum and both teams had to be separated in front of the Robert Morris.

The third period saw the Chargers come out strong skating hard and things paid off at 8:19 when senior co-captain Grant Selinger (Regina, Saskatchewan) corralled a Brett McConnachie (Ajax, Ontario) dump into the Colonials' zone and fired the Chargers up with a short-handed tally.

The Chargers then took their first lead of the contest just past the midway point of the third period when the power-play unit again made the Colonials pay for their sins. McConnachie skated in on net from the left side and made a perfect touch pass to a crashing Nimmo for the one-timer at 10:11 of the period.

An empty netter from just outside the RMU blueline by freshman Kevin Morrison (Mississauga, Ontario) from Josh Murray (Terrace, British Columbia) and Kalinchuk, who also assisted on Selinger's shorthander, gave the Charger faithful some breathing room with 1:17 to play but that cushion was short lived. Despite being down a pair of goals, the Colonials kept Boucher on the bench and it paid off with 38 seconds remaining when Brett Hopfe circled behind the UAH net and found Kaufman who launched a shot past Narduzzi for the game's final score.

With the win, the Chargers improve to 5-10-1 overall and 3-5-0 in the CHA while Robert Morris falls to 5-9-0 overall and 4-4-0 in league action. Narduzzi picked up his fourth win of the season making 33 stops while his RMU counterpart Boucher also made 33 stops in the loss.

The Chargers continue conference action this week with a trip to Bemidji State on Friday and Saturday before the holiday break.

Late goal dooms Chargers against Colonials

Jamie Gilliam, UAH Sports Information

Despite nearly holding a 2-to-1 advantage in shots on goal, the Alabama-Huntsville hockey team surrendered a goal with 39 seconds remaining to fall 5-4 to visiting CHA foe Robert Morris on Saturday afternoon at the Von Braun Center.

UAH wasted little time making sure the Charger faithful got a chance to throw their toys for the "Kids To Love" foundation onto the ice as senior right winger Steve Canter (St. Louis) scored a tally from Dominik Rozman (Wallaceburg, Ontario) and Kevin Galerno (Kitchener, Ontario) with only 1:18 gone from the clock.

The 1-0 UAH lead did not last long however as RMU's David Boguslawski dug the puck out of the boards on the penalty kill and found a streaking Logan Bittle headed down the ice. With the 2-on-1 break, Bittle held until just the right moment and sent the puck over to Boguslawski for a short-handed one-timer score at 4:30 of the opening stanza. The Colonials took their first lead of the afternoon at 9:11 of the period from Bittle and Jeff Gilbert.

The game then headed into a lull with neither team scoring for over twenty minutes of action until Robert Morris pushed their lead to a two-goal margin just past the midway point of the second when Boguslawksi netted a power-play measure from Jason Towley and Ryan Cruthers.

The Chargers got a great break a few minutes later at 13:12 when junior Tyler Hilbert (Okotoks, Alberta) picked a RMU player's pocket for a breakaway. Hilbert flew down the ice and forced Boucher to commit stick side before skating in front of the net and depositing the puck into the gaping net with the Colonials' netminder stretched out on the ice.

Robert Morris responded with their fourth goal of the night at 17:20 when Aaron Clarke beat senior netminder Marc Narduzzi (Vancouver , British Columbia) from Cruthers. The Chargers drew back to within a goal at 19:20 of the second when Canter netted his second of the night with a helper from fellow senior Grant Selinger ( Regina, Saskatchewan). The game then went into another lull until 15:50 of the third when McConnachie put home his second of the night from Scott Kalinchuk (Sylvan Lake, Alberta) and Matt Sweazey ( Toronto, Ontario) to tie the game up as the momentum swung in the Chargers favor.

A late penalty would prove to be the difference as Hilbert was whistled for interference with 1:53 remaining in the contest. The Colonials would then make the Chargers pay as Bittle rifled a shot past Narduzzi with 39 ticks left on the clock.

The win for the Colonials is their first in the “Rocket City” in the history of the series that dates back two seasons. With the victory, RMU improves to 5-8-0 overall and 4-3-0 in the CHA while UAH falls to 4-10-1 overall and 2-5-0 in league play.

The two squads battle again on Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. The game is again sponsored by Regal Nissan and all fans bringing a new toy for the "Kids To Love" foundation receives free admission to the contest.