ANNAPOLIS, MD (Friday, November 16, 2007) – Junior John Patrick Culliton scored off a goalmouth scramble with 1:21 remaining in overtime to give Navy’s ice hockey team a thrilling 6-5 come-from-behind victory over Scranton in an Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) game Friday night at the McMullen Hockey Arena.

 

The exciting overtime win, before a vocal and enthusiastic crowd, was the Midshipmen’s first in league play and raised their ESCHL record to 1-10 and their overall mark to 6-10.  Scranton dropped to 2-7 in the league and 4-9-1 overall.

 

The same two teams meet again Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at the McMullen Hockey Arena.

 

Scranton’s Ice Royals got on the scoreboard first Friday night when Jerry Malanga redirected a Harry Lawall pass past Navy netminder Eric Anderson just 32 seconds after the opening face-off.  Navy knotted the score 1-1 exactly one minute later, at 1:32, when junior Eric Bowen tallied his second goal of the season, the lone assist going to freshman Jonathan Wheeler.

 

The Ice Royals regained the lead at 2-1 when Malanga picked up his second goal of the first period, this one on the power play at 8:45.  Once again, the resilient Midshipmen bounced back, tying the game at 2-2 when junior defenseman Matt Swezey beat Scranton goaltender Justin Lucas with a hard wrist shot at 11:36, assists going to senior team captain Derek Johnson and sophomore defenseman Patrick Heitman.

 

The see-saw scoring continued before the first period ended, as Scranton once again took a one-goal advantage, 3-2, thanks to a Ryan Kleinschmidt even strength goal at 12:42.

 

Early in the second stanza, Navy fought back to pull even at 3-3 when Swezey fed a perfect pass to senior Brian Gleason who was standing in the crease.  Gleason, who had shaved his head and eyebrows after learning yesterday that he’d earned a coveted Navy SEAL billet on service selection day, redirected the Swezey pass past Lucas at 3:30.

 

Following a rare 15-minute scoreless streak, the Ice Royals took their fourth lead of the night when Kleinschmidt picked up his second tally of the night at the 18:08 mark.  But never-say-die Navy tied the game 4-4 when senior Donnie Horner fired a loose rebound past a prone Lucas at 19:32 of the second period, assists going to classmate Drew Stoner and sophomore Keegan Kinkade.

 

Scranton continued the pattern of taking the lead after Navy came back to tie, when Patrick Nerney scored at 7:57 into the third period.  And the Midshipmen continued their pattern of answering every Ice Royal goal with one of their own, as senior Nick Schwob tallied a power play goal with just 3:09 remaining in the third period, assisted by junior Jon Westerman and Heitman.

 

Neither team scored in the game’s final three minutes of regulation time, sending the contest into the extra five-minute overtime.

 

With Scranton’s Ted Rosenberg serving a two-minute penalty for obstruction interference, Navy capitalized on the extra man situation when Culliton scored off a goalmouth scramble at the 3:39 mark of OT, Swezey and Westerman getting the assists. Culliton’s goal set off a wild celebration among the Navy fans in attendance and gave new head coach Mike Fox his first ever ESCHL victory.

 

Anderson finished with 36 saves on 41 shots for the Midshipmen, while his counterpart Lucas recorded 44 saves on 50 Navy shots on goal.

 

The Navy Hockey team is currently selling there Blue and Gold jerseys that were worn by the team from the 2003-04 season until the beginning of this season.  Quantities are very limited. Jerseys are priced at $125 each (add $10 S&H if necessary). Please email
NavyHockeyJerseys@yahoo.com for more information.

 

SCORING SUMMARY

 

Scranton           3          1          1          0          -           5

NAVY             2          2          1          1          -           6

 

First Period

S - Malanga (Lawall, Malone) 0:32

N – Bowen 2 (Wheeler) 1:32

S – Malanga (Lawall, Dishon) 8:45 (pp)

N – Swezey 7 (Johnson, Heitman) 11:36

S – Kleinschmidt (Pace, Torstrup) 12:42

 

Second Period

N – Gleason (4 (Swezey) 3:30

S – Kleinschmidt (Torstrup, Rosenberg) 18:08 (pp)

N – Horner 2 (Kinkade, Stoner) 19:32

 

Third Period

S – Nerney (D’Alessio) 7:57

N – Schwob 13 (Westerman, Heitman) 16:51 (pp)

 

Overtime

N – Culliton (Swezey, Westerman) 3:39 (pp)

 

 

SAVES

Lucas (Scranton)          16        16        10        2          -           44

Anderson (NAVY)       12        14        8          2          -           36

 

SHOTS

Scranton                       15        15        9          2          -           41

NAVY                         18        18        11        3          -           50