ANNAPOLIS, MD (Saturday, November 10, 2007) – Navy’s ice hockey team allowed two goals within a 30-second span midway through the second period, and they proved to be the difference as Delaware defeated the Mids, 5-2, in an Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) game Saturday night at the McMullen Hockey Arena in Annapolis.

 

Navy dropped to 5-10 overall this season and 0-10 in the ESCHL, while Delaware’s Blue Hens improved their league record to 6-1-1.

 

The Mids are back in action with a trio of home games at the McMullen Hockey Arena next weekend: Friday and Saturday nights vs. Scranton at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday afternoon vs. the University of Pittsburgh at 1:05 p.m.

 

Delaware and Navy battled evenly through the first period, with the Blue Hens taking the early lead on a Dave Lombardi goal at 4:39.  The Midshipmen tied the game 1-1 late in the first period when an Adam Shields slapshot found the back of the net at the 19:04 mark while Navy was on a power play, the lone assist going to junior Jeff Martin. It was Shields’ second tally of the season and third of his USNA career.

 

The game’s turning point came midway through the second stanza.  With senior Brian Gleason serving a two-minute interference penalty, Delaware’s Ryan Atkinson scored a power play goal at 8:14 to give the Blue Hens a 2-1 lead.  With the teams playing at equal strength, Delaware’s Aleks Volkov then tallied just 30 seconds later at 8:44 to give the visitors a 3-1 advantage.

 

Navy cut the deficit in half to 3-2 when sophomore Keegan Kinkade controlled a face off in Delaware’s end of the ice and passed the puck back to junior defenseman Matt Gross, who’s shot from the right point sailed past the catching glove of Delaware netminder Jim Depfer at 11:34 of the second stanza.  It was Gross’ third goal of the season and seventh of his Naval Academy career.

 

But the Blue Hens regained their two-goal margin before the period ended when Ben Rotundo scored a shorthanded goal at 16:29.

 

Navy’s best chance to narrow the gap came early in the third period when Delaware’s Justin Sexton was assessed a five-minute major penalty for checking Navy’s Shields from behind, causing Shields to crash headfirst into the boards.  But the Mids were able to muster just two shots on goal during the five-minute infraction.

 

Delaware closed out the scoring with an empty net goal off the stick of Andrew Bailey with just 24 second showing on the scoreboard clock.

 

Sophomore Navy netminder Eric Anderson finished the night with 34 saves, while Annapolis native Depfer recorded 24 stops, as the Blue Hens outshot the Mids, 39-26.

 

“Our league record may not show it, but I know we’re getting better every game,” Navy head coach Mike Fox said last night.  “We have to remember, we’ve played three of the best teams in the country over the past three weekends, and we held our own for the most part.  We seem to be able to play a good 40 or 50 minutes of hockey every night, but those other 10 or 20 minutes just kill us.  Tonight the difference was those two goals 10 seconds apart, and our inability to take advantage of that five-minute major penalty.

 

“I know if we keep working hard and we can capitalize on our scoring chances, we’ll get some big wins in this league before the season is over,” he added.

 

SCORING SUMMARY

 

Delaware          1          3          1          -           5

NAVY             1          1          0          -           2

 

First Period

D – Lombardi (Weiner) 4:39

N – Shields 2 (Martin) 19:04 (pp)

 

Second Period

D – Atkinson (Gardner, Sexton) 8:14 (pp)

D – Volkov (Baumgartner, Atkinson) 8:44

N – Gross 3 (Kinkade) 11:34

D – Rotundo (Colletti, Baumgartner) 16:29 (sh)

 

Third Period

D – Bailey (Gardner, Rotundo) 19:36 (en)

 

SAVES

Depfer (Delaware)        8          7          9          -           24

Anderson (NAVY)       11        12        11        -           34

SHOTS

Delaware                      12        15        12        -           39

NAVY                         9          8          9          -           26