Alabama-Huntsville
forward Steve Canter may not score the most goals
or ones of highlight quality. But when he converts
they mean a lot, as evidenced by a truly remarkable
turn of events as the visiting Chargers surprised
Ohio State last weekend.
In Friday’s series opener at Value
City Arena, UAH jumped out to a 3-1 lead after two
periods, but the hosts rallied to even the score on
power-play goals by Rod Pelley and Dominic Maiani
less than two minutes apart in the third period.
“"When I let in the two goals,
I thought `Here we go again.,’” said Charger
goaltender Scott Munroe, who set a Value City Arena
records by making 52 saves, 21 of them in the third
period. “I just wanted to preserve the tie to
give our team a chance."
Enter Canter, who recorded the winning
goal in the Chargers’ two previous wins (vs.
Niagara on Nov. 11 and at Robert Morris on Nov. 19).
With less than a minute remaining in regulation, defenseman
Mike Salekin sprung Canter with a lead pass. The junior
wing skated in alone and beat OSU goalie Dave Caruso
with 44 seconds left in period, propelling UAH to
a 4-3 win.
Though the two teams battled to a 2-2
draw the next night, Canter’s late-game heroics
were even more dramatic. Though the Buckeyes owned
a 36-10 advantage in shots through two periods, Munroe
managed to keep the Chargers within striking distance,
trailing 2-1 entering the final period.
The Buckeyes maintained the one-goal
lead until the waning moments of regulation. With
Munroe pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Canter
corralled a rebound and slid the puck past Caruso
as time expired to salvage the tie.
"Steve is a clutch player for us,”
Alabama-Huntsville coach Doug Ross said. “It
was a good game. Either team could have won. I thought
Ohio State had more opportunities to win the game.
I'm just proud of the way our guys played this weekend
against a good CCHA hockey team.
“After having last week off, we
knew we needed to gain confidence and momentum coming
up here to play Ohio State. We played aggressively,
moved up the ice together and made the big saves."
SEEN AND HEARD IN THE CHA
Dusting Off the Tools:
Over the past season-plus, Robert Morris backup goaltender
Joe Tuset has been about as busy as the Maytag repairman.
With workhorse Christian Boucher starting 17 straight
games, 31 of the Colonials’ last 33 matches,
and all but five contests in school history, one becomes
quite effective working the gate on the bench for
line changes.
The junior from Eagan, Minn. –
he of the 44:08 in career minutes played – finally
got the nod from coach Derek Schooley, and made his
first start for the Colonials at Lake Superior State
last Saturday. Tuset acquitted himself quite well,
making 32 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Lakers.
In fact, the transfer from Northern
Michigan kept the Colonials in the game in the first
period – they were outshot by LSSU, 14-5. Tusek
got a chance to earn his first career victory thanks
to a goal by Jace Buzek with 1:25 left in regulation
that sent the game into OT. The Lakers’ Dominic
Osman notched the decisive goal with 1:20 left in
the extra frame.
FRIES
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
Great Weekend Getaway
Lake
Superior State at Bemidji State (Fri.-Sat.) Sure, this is a rematch of many an
NAIA title game, but it’s also another
stern non-conference test for the Beavers. They’ve
already swept Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota
State, Mankato, and split at Ferris State, but
the next six games on the slate even tougher
– a home-and-home set with mighty North
Dakota follows the LSSU series, and BSU gets
Clarkson and either Dartmouth or Vermont at
the Vermont Holiday Classic Dec. 30-31.
Stick
Salute
The
game isn’t until Dec. 17, but kudos to
ESPNU for picking that night’s Bemidji
State-North Dakota tilt as its college hockey
game of the week. It should be an entertaining
game with interesting story lines, especially
if Layne Sedevie – who originally committed
to the Fighting Sioux – gets the start
in goal for the Beavers and plays well.
Bench
Minor
No
disrespect to Robert Morris defenseman Jeff
Gilbert, but Alabama-Huntsville goaltender Scott
Munroe makes a combined 101 saves in a win and
a tie at Ohio State, yet he’s overlooked
for CHA Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Are you kidding? Most goalies won’t make
101 saves in four games. Heck, I think Dave
McKee made 101 saves in ECACHL play last year.
• A recent
slump provides an indication of just how potent Robert
Morris’ power-play units were early in the season.
Despite scoring on only one of its last 17 man-advantage
opportunities, the Colonials still rank second in
the nation with a power-play success rate of 25.7%
(19-of-74). RMU has scored more even-strength goals
in its last four games (eight) than it did in its
first eight outings (seven).
• With the win and tie in Columbus
last weekend, Alabama-Huntsville is 2-0-1 all-time
against Ohio State. They’re a combined 0-8-0
against the Buckeyes’ Big Ten hockey-playing
brethren (Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and
Wisconsin).
• Wayne State got off the schneid
last Friday, pinning a 4-3 loss on host Air Force.
The win snapped the Warriors’ 12-game (0-10-2)
winless streak that dated back to a 4-0 win against
Alabama-Huntsville on March 5, 2005.
• Niagara’s Matt Caruana
and Jason Williamson each had nine-game scoring streaks
snapped in the Purple Eagles’ 8-1 loss at Bemidji
State Saturday. That loss, by the way, matches the
worst defeat in Niagara history. The Purple Eagles
also absorbed an 8-1 loss against Ferris State on
Jan. 4, 2003.
• Who’s hot: Bemidji State’s
Luke Erickson, whose four goals in the Beavers’
win against Niagara is a school record for the Division
I era…BSU goalie Layne Sedevie, meanwhile, has
won nine of his last 10 starts…Eric Ehn of Air
Force has 5-4—9 and is +4 in the Falcons’
last three games…Wayne State’s Stavros
Paskaris has returned from a six-game hiatus because
of an injury to pick up five points in the Warriors’
last four appearances.
• In the past, it’s likely
that Jared Ross’ name would have appeared in
the item above. Thought the former Alabama-Huntsville
standout has moved on to the American Hockey League’s
Chicago Wolves, he hasn’t lost his scoring touch.
Despite playing in just 15 of his team’s 19
games – the rest of the league’s teams
have played anywhere from 20 to 28 games – Ross’
2-11—13 scoring line ranks third among Wolves
skaters and tied for 25th among AHL rookies.
A variety of sources were utilized
in the compilation of this report.
