COLLEGE PARK, MD (Saturday, February 03, 2007) – Navy’s ice hockey team
scored three unanswered third period goals to break a 3-3 tie and went on to
defeat Scranton, 6-3, in an Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (ECHA)
game Saturday afternoon at the Herbert Wells Ice Rink in College Park.
With the win, the Midshipmen improved their record to 17-8-1 overall and
12-4-1 in the ECHA. Navy’s 12 wins and an overtime loss are good for 25
points and third place in the league standings, four points ahead of West
Virginia. The Mountaineers traveled to West Chester Saturday night to face
the Golden Rams and WVU could pull within two points of the Mids with a
victory.
Scranton, meanwhile, fell to 6-11-1 in the league and finished out of the
league playoffs.
Scranton’s Ice Royals got on the scoreboard early Saturday afternoon when
Bobby Peckham scored just 24 seconds into the contest. Navy countered later
in the period with a goal from senior Kevin Krmpotich at 13:11, the lone
assist going to linemate Nick Schwob.
The Midshipmen took their first lead of the day early in the second stanza
on a power play goal from Nick Hinkley at 2:02, assisted by senior Joe Liles
and sophomore Jeff Martin. Navy increased its advantage to 3-1 on
Krmpotich’s second tally of the game, coming at 13:40, Schwob and freshman
Calen Mims picking up assists.
Scranton trimmed the Navy lead to 3-2 before the second stanza ended with a
Phil Furtak goal at 14:49, and the Ice Royals tied the contest at 3-3 early
in the third period thanks to a power play tally from Dan Stallone just 56
seconds after the opening face-off.
But the Midshipmen pulled away down the stretch, getting goals from junior
Donnie Horner at 2:32, from Schwob at 6:57, and from sophomore defenseman
Matt Swezey at 18:51 while the Mids were on a power play to give Navy the
6-3 triumph.
Freshman Navy goaltender Eric Anderson finished with 30 saves while his
counterpart in the Scranton net David Skinner recorded 38 stops, as the Mids
outshot the Ice Royals, 44-33.
Navy was 2-for-9 on the power play, while Scranton was 1-for-6.
The Midshipmen are in action again next weekend when they “host” the Crabpot
Tournament. The first two games – Navy vs. Villanova and Maryland vs.
Liberty – will be played at the Washington Capitals’ practice facility in
Arlington, VA next Saturday night, February 10, at 7:45 and 8:15 p.m.,
respectively.
The Crabpot Tournament championship game will be held next Sunday, February
11, at 12 noon back at the Herbert Wells Ice Rink in College Park.
PUCK POINTS: Junior Donnie Horner was awarded the game puck by the coaches
following Saturday’s game as a result of his goal, assist, and all around
strong play at forward…the coaches were once again forced to put together a
makeshift line-up due to the absence of several key players to illness or
injury, including Jay Alspach, Andrew Stoner, Nolan Anliker, and Brian
Gleason…center Jon Westerman also was unavailable because of a family
matter…as a result, Alex Wallis, Keegan Kinkade, Aaron Erzinger, Eric
Smitley, and Calen Mims were in Saturday’s line-up…Anderson played between
the pipes for the Mids even though he was battling through illness, as were
several of his teammates…in recent games, defenseman Adam Shields and
forward Charlie Hymen broke into the line-up and have since stayed there
because of their consistent play…Henry White refereed Saturday’s game and
was assisted by linesmen John Horan and Curt Peterson.
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST PERIOD
S – Peckham (Lawall, Stallone) 0:24
N – Krmpotich (Schwob) 13:11
SECOND PERIOD
N – Hinkley (Martin, Liles) 2:02
N – Krmpotich (Schwob, Mims) 13:40
S – Furtak (Quinn, McAnally) 14:49
THIRD PERIOD
S – Stallone (Previti, Fazio) 0:56
N – Horner (Schwob) 2:32
N – Schwob (Krmpotich, Horner) 6:57
N – Swezey (Martin, Hinkley) 18:51
SAVES
Skinner (Scranton) 12 16 10 - 38
Anderson (NAVY) 5 9 16 - 30
SHOTS
Scranton 6 10 17 - 33
NAVY 13 18 13 - 44