West Virginia
NAVY HOCKEY TEAM IMPROVES TO 3-0
WITH ROAD VICTORY AT WEST VIRGINIA
MORGANTOWN, WV -- Navy improved its 2004-05 season record to 3-0
Saturday with a 4-3 victory at West Virginia University (WVU) in
Morgantown.
West Virginia's Mountaineers jumped on top in that clash with a
power play goal at 6:40 of the first period, but the Midshipmen
tied it at 1-1 when freshmen defenseman Donnie Horner fired a
shot from the right point that deflected off senior forward John
Naughton past Mountaineer netminder Tom O'Connor.
Naughton got credit for the goal, his fourth this year, while
Horner picked up the lone assist.
Navy took a 2-1 lead at 4:58 of the second stanza when sophomore
forward Kevin Krmpotich stole a Mountaineer pass while the Mids
were killing a penalty, broke in alone on WVU's O'Connor, and
beat him cleanly with a backhander. But West Virginia battled
back with a power play goal just 49 seconds later to knot the
score at 2-2.
With just 5:39 left in the second period, Navy regained its one
goal lead at 3-2 when sophomore center Chris Schnappinger fed
the puck to his classmate, defenseman Alex Sandroni, who broke
toward the net from the left point and fired the puck over
O'Connor's shoulder. It was Sandroni's first goal this season.
West Virginia pulled even at 3-3 with a breakaway goal at 5:09
of the third period, and the two teams battled evenly over the
next seven minutes until senior forward John Bogdan and freshman
forward Eric Smitley fed Horner, who fired a shot that slipped
between O'Connor's skates and sneaked across the goal line to
put the Mids ahead, 4-3, at 12:56.
Despite vehement protests from the Mountaineers, who claimed the
puck never crossed the line, the goal counted. It was Horner's
first goal as a Midshipman. Junior Navy netminder Ryan Dobie
turned aside several West Virginia shots over the game's final
seven minutes, en route to an outstanding 33-save performance
and his third victory this season.
"Dobie bailed us out because we didn't play well enough to win,"
noted senior team captain Matty Thomas. "We were sloppy and
turned the puck over too many times in our own defensive zone.
The coaches told us after the game that good teams always find a
way to win, but we never should have put ourselves in that
position."
SCORING SUMMARY
First Period
WV - Holabaugh (Scheffler) 6:40, power play
N - Naughton (Horner) 13:01
Second Period
N - Krmpotich (unassisted) 4:58, shorthanded
WV - Haas (Feeley) 5:47, power play
N - Sandroni (Schnappinger) 14:21
Third Period
WV - Attanucci (O'Leary, Scheffler) 5:09
N - Horner (Smitley, Bogdan) 12:56
SAVES
Dobie (Navy) 9 - 16 - 8 -- 33
O'Connor (WV) 7 - 6 - 8 -- 21
SHOTS ON GOAL
Navy 8 - 8 - 9 -- 25
WVU 10 - 17 - 9 -- 36