March
11, 2006
College Hockey America Tournament Semifinals
It's
No. 1 vs. No. 2 for Title...Barely
By
Thomas Baldwin
| Niagara
3,
Robert Morris 2 |
| Team |
Goal |
Str |
| Time |
Assists |
| First
Period |
| 1-NU |
Sean
Bentivoglio (16) |
EV |
| 8:15 |
T.
Cook, L. Reaney |
| 2-NU |
Pat
Oliveto (4) |
EV |
| 11:18 |
V.
Rocco |
| Second
Period |
| 1-RM |
Jake
Sparks (4) |
EV |
| 3:56 |
C.
Margott, A. Bonello |
| 2-RM |
Sean
Berkstresser (11) |
EV |
| 4:32 |
D.
Conley, R. Cowan |
| Third
Period |
| 3-NU |
Matt
Caruana (12) |
EV |
| 18:52 |
A.
Lackner, D. Sullivan |
| Goaltending |
| RM:
Christian Boucher (58:58, 26 saves, 3 GA) |
| NU:
Jeff Van Nynatten (59:28, 36 saves, 2 GA) |
| Penalties:
RM 11/22; NU 11/33 |
| Power
Plays: RM 0-8; NU 0-9 |
DETROIT
– Though Niagara won all four of its regular-season
meetings with Robert Morris, the series was closer than
it seemed. Three of the games were decided by one goal;
the last two were identical 3-2 wins in favor of the Purple
Eagles.
It should
come as no surprise, then, that today’s CHA semifinal
game between top-seed Niagara and fourth-seed Robert Morris
at Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum went down to the
wire. And true to form, Niagara escaped with a 3-2 victory
when Matt Caruana scored with 1:08 left in regulation to
put the Purple Eagles into Sunday’s championship game,
where they'll face second-seed Bemidji State for the right
to advance to the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
“It
pretty much epitomizes our whole year,” said Niagara
coach Dave Burkholder of the win. “We just find a
way to win ugly.”
Caruana
tipped a Dan Sullivan shot from just inside the blue line
past Colonials goaltender Christian Boucher, who made 26
saves for RMU. Niagara, which got timely goals from a variety
of contributors in winning seven of its last eight games,
used the same formula to its advantage Saturday.
“That’s
one of the best attributes of our team,” said senior
forward Jason Williamson. “We have great depth and
every night it could be someone else.
I think we have six or seven guys with 30 points. If one
line is off, another is going to pick up the slack.”
Niagara
(20-14-1) played like the tourney’s top seed in the
first period as Sean Bentivoglio and Pat Oliveto scored
just over three minutes apart to spot the Purple Eagles
a 2-0 lead. The second period was totally different, as
the Colonials (12-20-3) battled back to even the score in
short order. First, Jake Sparks scored just under four minutes
into the period to cut the lead in half, and Sean Berkstresser
scored just 36 seconds later.
Goaltender
Jeff VanNynatten, the CHA Co-Player of the Year, proved
his worth by making 36 saves, 17 of them in a busy first
period.
Obviously,
we got great senior goaltending again,” Burkholder
said. “Jeff was terrific when we needed, and we found
a way at the end to get it done.”
| Bemidji
State
4,
Alabama-Huntsville 3 (ot) |
| Team |
Goal |
Str |
| Time |
Assists |
| First
Period |
| 1-BS |
Blaine
Jarvis (7) |
EV |
| 3:12 |
M.
Allen, S. Holman |
| 1-AH |
Mike
Salekin (8) |
PP |
| 16:58 |
S.
Canter, D. Nimmo |
| No
Scoring |
| Second
Period |
| 2-AH |
Grant
Selinger (8) |
EV |
| 14:08 |
D.
Nimmo, S. Canter |
| Third
Period |
| 3-AH |
Dominik
Rozman (4) |
EV |
| 1:59 |
M.
Sweazey, T. Hilbert |
| 2-BS |
Luke
Erickson (16) |
EV |
| 7:02 |
R.
Miller, R. Huddy |
| 3-BS |
Tyler
Scofield (6) |
EV |
| 15:22 |
M.
Pope, A. Martens |
| Overtime |
| 4-BS |
Rob
Sirianni (16) |
EV |
| 1:20 |
G.
Roth, A. Martens |
| Goaltending |
| AH:
Scott Munroe (61:20, 29 saves, 4 GA) |
| BS:
Layne Sedevie (61:12, 37 saves, 3 GA) |
| Penalties:
AH 7/14; BS 5/10 |
| Power
Plays: AH 1-5; BS 0-7 |
| Attendance:
1,008 |
BEAVERS
BATTLE BACK
As was
the case in the Niagara-Robert Morris game, Alabama-Huntsville
squandered a two-goal lead in its semifinal match against
Bemidji State Saturday. But unlike the first game, the Chargers
wouldn't regain the lead after letting the Beavers back
into the game.
Rob
Sirianni scored 1:20 into overtime to lift Bemidji State
(19-13-3) to a 4-3 win over Alabama-Huntsville (19-13-2),
propelling the Beavers to their fourth straight appearance
in the CHA playoff championship game.
Sirianni's
game-winner was the last of three unanswered scores for
Bemidji State in the final 14:28 of play. Luke Erickson
started the Beaver rally with a goal a little more than
seven minutes into the third period, and BSU's Tyler Scofield
sent the game into overtime when he tied the game at 3-3
with 4:38 remaining in regulation.
The
Chargers, incidentally, scored three straight goals after
falling behind three minutes into the game when Blaine Jarvis
got the puck past UAH netminder Scott Munroe. Mike Salekin's
power-play from the right circle three minutes before the
first intermission evened the game at 1-1. The Chargers
dominated the second period, outshooting the Beavers by
a 23-6 margin, but managed just one goal – Grant Selinger's
successful attempt from the top of the crease set up by
a feed from David Nimmo. Dominik Rozman pushed the UAH advantage
to 3-1 on his fourth goal of the season 1:59 into the third
period.
Layne
Sedevie made 37 saves for Bemidji State. Scott Munroe, who
shared CHA Player of the Year honors with Niagara's Van
Nynatten, turned aside 29 shots.
WHAT'S
NEXT
Niagara
and Bemidji State compete for the CHA playoff championship
in Detroit Sunday. The Purple Eagles are 7-1-0 in their
last eight games, but it's a deceiving statistic –
five of the seven wins were by one goal. Deceiving, too,
is the Beavers' record. Sure, BSU is a respectable 19-13-3,
but the Beavers are a mediocre 11-11-1 since Dec. 1, a span
that includes three losses to Niagara, two of them coming
in western New York just two weeks ago.
Mike
Eidelbes contributed to this report.