WEST CHESTER, PA (Saturday, February 17, 2007) – Navy’s ice hockey team
surrendered the game’s first five goals and fell to the University of Rhode
Island (URI), 6-1, in the semi-finals of the Eastern Collegiate Hockey
Association (ECHA) playoffs Saturday afternoon at Ice Line Arena in West
Chester, PA.
With the loss, the Midshipmen dropped to 19-10-1 overall this season.
Navy will now face the loser of Saturday’s second semi-final game between
top-seeded West Chester and fifth-seeded Drexel tomorrow (Sunday) at 11 a.m.
in the tournament’s third place consolation game.
URI’s Rams will now meet the West Chester-Drexel winner for the ECHA
championship tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Rhode Island got on the scoreboard first when David Becrardinelli registered
a power play goal at the 4:10 mark of the first period. The Rams doubled
their lead to 2-0 exactly seven minutes later when Cory Manley drilled a
shot past Navy netminder Eric Anderson at 11:10.
URI extended its advantage to 4-0 early in the second period with a Mike
Haggerty goal at 3:01, followed 32 seconds later by Manley’s second tally of
the day, off a breakaway, at 3:33. The Rams later surged ahead by 5-0
thanks to a Bill McKiernan goal at the 7:14 mark of the second period.
Navy got on the scoreboard late in the second stanza when junior Nick Schwob
tucked the puck past URI goaltender Anthony Feyock with just 25 seconds
showing on the scoreboard clock, with sophomore Matt Swezey and junior Joe
Liles picking up the assists.
But the Rams regained their five-goal lead midway through the third period
on a McKiernan power play goal at the 9:10 mark to close out the scoring.
Anderson finished with 31 saves for the Mids, while Feyock recorded 26 stops
for the Rams, as URI outshot Navy by a 37-27 margin.
SCORING SUMMARY
URI 2 3 1 - 6
NAVY 0 1 0 - 1
FIRST PERIOD
URI – Becardinelli (Johnson, Biliouris) 4:10
URI – Manley (Curran) 11:10
SECOND PERIOD
URI – Haggerty (Loftus) 3:01
URI – Manley (Eberenz, Reinhardt) 3:33
URI – McKiernan (Biliouris, Bragger) 7:14
N – Schwob (Swezey, Liles) 19:35
THIRD PERIOD
URI – McKiernan (Hogberg, Herring) 9:10
SAVES
Feyock (URI) 12 8 6 - 26
Anderson (NAVY) 8 12 11 - 31
SHOTS
URI 10 15 12 - 37
NAVY 12 9 6 - 27
(Reported by Lindsay Potak and Jim Guiberson)