March
9, 2007
College Hockey America Tournament First Round
Chargers
End Warriors' Winning Streak to Advance
| Alabama-Huntsville
4,
Wayne State 3 (ot) |
| Team |
Goal |
Str |
| Time |
Assists |
| First
Period |
| 1-WS |
Dan
Iliakis (5) |
EV |
| 15:27 |
T.
Donohoe, D. Punches |
| 2-WS |
Jason
Baclig (8) |
PP |
| 19:14 |
N.
Higgins, J. Katz |
| Second
Period |
| 3-WS |
Dan
Iliakis (6) |
EV |
| 7:23 |
S.
Paskaris, D. Bachynski |
| 1-AH |
Tom
Train (3) |
EV |
| 11:46 |
C.
Tanaka, T. Hilbert |
| Third
Period |
| 2-AH |
Dominik
Rozman (4) |
EV |
| 1:48 |
unassisted |
| 3-AH |
Dominik
Rozman (5) |
EV |
| 4:14 |
unassisted |
| Overtime |
| 4-AH |
Grant
Selinger (16) |
PP |
| 8:39 |
D.
Nimmo, B. McConnachie |
| Goaltending |
| AH:
Blake MacNicol (27:23, 15 saves, 3 GA); Marc Narduzzi
(41:16, 16 saves 0 GA) |
| WS:
Will Hooper (68:39, 34 saves, 4 GA) |
| Penalties:
AH 9/18; WS 8/16 |
| Power
Plays: Ah 1-7; WS 1-8 |
By
Warren Kozireski
DES
MOINES, Iowa — Alabama-Huntsville overcame a three-goal
deficit to defeat Wayne State, 4-3, on senior forward Grant
Selinger’s overtime goal in the first round of the
College Hockey America playoffs Friday.
With
Wayne State junior forward Tylor Michel serving a minor
penalty for slashing, Selinger banged home a rebound 8:39
into overtime to send the Chargers into a semifinal match
against top-seeded Niagara Saturday at 2 p.m.
Senior
defenseman Dan Iliakis scored two goals and senior
forward Jason Baclig added another to put the Warriors up
3-0 early in the second period before the Chargers' fourth
line shook the team out of its slumber.
A little more than four minutes after senior
goaltender Marc Narduzzi came on in relief of starter Blake
MacNicol (more on this in a moment), freshman centerman
Tom Train took a cross-ice pass from rookie wing Cale Tanaka
to close the gap to 3-1.
UAH senior wing Dominik Rozman took over in
the third period, netting a pair of goals in the first 4:14
of the frame to tie the game. The Chargers also killed off
nearly one minute of a Wayne State two-man advantage late
in the third.
“We always start really, really slow
and three goals in nothing for us to back from,” said
Narduzzi. “I thin the biggest thing with our team
is we play desperate hockey. We have ten seniors on this
team and we didn’t want to end it that way.
Narduzzi, the team's No. 1 goalie, took a
shot off his right shoulder during warm-ups, left the ice,
and did not return —
hence the decision to start MacNicol, a freshman who had
made four starts this season.
“I took the shot from Steve Canter off
my collarbone and I couldn’t feel my hand for the
rest of warm-up. So our trainer put a needle in it to freeze
it up with some ice, but with adrenaline going it didn’t
really matter. I was confident going in without having the
warm-up.”
Niagara won the season series against Alabama-Huntsville,
2-1-1, but the Chargers won and tied the Purple Eagles in
Huntsville last weekend. In the other CHA semifinal match,
second-seeded Bemidji State will face third-seeds Robert
Morris 8 p.m. EST.
SEEN AND HEARD AT 95KGGO ARENA
• Wayne State head coach Bill Wilkinson
started seniors Dan Iliakis and Taylor Donohoe on defense,
but after the first shift went back to the regular pairings
of Donohoe with Matt Krug and Iliakis with Matt Boldt. In
the second period, he moved the two seniors back together.
• This is the second straight year a
team has rallied from a three-goal deficit to win a CHA
quarterfinal game. Last year in Detroit, Robert Morris trailed
Air Force, 3-0, less than 22 minutes into the game, but
the Colonials scored four unanswered goals to advance. RMU
was ousted in the semifinals the following day by Niagara.
• Bemidji State fans were spotted at
the arena wearing t-shirts that read, “Who Hates Huntsville
... We Hate Huntsville."
• Aside from the Alabama-Huntsville
band and idle teams and coaching staffs, there were about
100 fans in the arena for Friday's game. The announced attendance
was 255.
Warren Kozireski can be reached at warrenkozireski@yahoo.com.