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Chargers NCAA Bound Winning Final CHA Tourney In OT |
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Written by Jamie Gilliam
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Sunday, 14 March 2010 |
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - One month to the day that the Alabama-Huntsville hockey team headed south with heavy hearts following the tragic shootings on campus, the Chargers will head home tonight for the "Hockey Capital of the South" with an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament as the 2010 College Hockey America champions following a 3-2 overtime win over host Niagara (12-20-4) on Saturday night in Niagara, Univ., N.Y.
Having already put two power-play goals in the net in regulation, the Chargers got an early chance in the extra frame when Niagara's Jim Burichin was whistled for slashing only 1:08 into the period. UAH (12-17-3) got the bounce they needed just 26 seconds later when freshman Keenan Desmet (Strathmore, Alberta) lifted a Neil Ruffini (Roswell, Ga.) rebound into the top of the net to claim the Chargers' second CHA Tournament Title. Freshman blueliner Curtis deBruyn (Calgary, Alberta) also picked up an assist sending the puck down to Ruffini, who rifled the low wrister off the pads of Niagara's Chris Noonan.
 For such an exciting overtime finish and final two periods, the opening frame paled in comparison as neither team was able to gain an advantage as both Noonan and UAH junior netminder Cameron Talbot (Caledonia, Ontario) stopped everything they faced.
Things started to pick up in the second period as the Chargers drew first blood when senior defenseman Brennan Barker (Long Sault, Ontario) sent a low blast from the point that beat Noonan to give UAH a 1-0 lead at 7:33 of the stanza. The power-play tally came with help from senior defender Brandon Roshko (Hamilton, Ontario) and sophomore winger Cody Campbell (Maple Ridge, British Columbia).
That momentum was very short lived however, as Niagara fired right back only 20 seconds later when NU's Chris Moran skated in the zone and fired a wrister over the right shoulder of Talbot to knot the game 1-1.
UAH retook the lead later in the frame at 16:31 when junior forward Andrew Coburn (Mount Forest, Ontario) sent a pass cross crease to Campbell sitting on the back door and the sophomore hit the easy one-time into the gaping net for the power-play measure and the 2-1 lead.
A third-period defensive breakdown by the Chargers led to the final goal of the night for Niagara early in the frame when NU's Bryan Haczyk and Marc Zanette skated in on Talbot and one UAH defender for a 2-on-1. Zanette took a feed from Haczyk and fired it past Talbot glove side to tie the game exactly four minutes into the period and bring the crowd to life.
The Purple Eagles would keep up their barrage of shots in the final 16 minutes of action but Talbot stood tall en route to wining CHA Tournament MVP honors. Making his school-record 32nd start of the season, Talbot stopped 43 saves in the win bringing his season total to 1,006, also a new season-high.
Campbell joined Talbot on the final CHA All-Tournament Team with a goal and assist on Saturday night. Saturday night's game was a rematch of the first-ever CHA Tournament championship in 2000 which Niagara won 3-2 in Huntsville.
The Chargers await next Sunday's selection show broadcast on ESPN2 at 10:30 a.m. to find out whether UAH travels to Albany, N.Y., Wochester, Mass., St. Paul, Minn., or Ft. Wayne, Ind., for the NCAA Regionals.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 14 March 2010 )
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