SCRANTON, PA (Sunday, January 13, 2008) – Navy’s ice hockey team made it a weekend sweep, getting three unanswered second period goals en route to a 5-2 Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) win over Scranton Sunday evening at the Ice Box Sports Complex in Scranton, PA.

 

With the victory -- their third in a row -- the Midshipmen improved to 9-14-0 overall and 4-12-0 in the prestigious ESCHL.  Scranton’s Ice Royals, meantime, saw their record fall to 5-12-2 overall and 3-11-0 in the league.  The Mids had defeated the same Scranton squad Saturday night by a 9-8 count.

 

With the weekend sweep, Navy now sits solidly in fourth place in the ESCHL standings behind Penn State (12-0-0 for 24 points), Rhode Island (11-3-0 for 22 points), and Delaware (9-4-1 for 19 points), and ahead of Scranton and Drexel (six points each).

 

Navy is idle until next weekend when the Midshipmen travel to State College, PA for a pair of contests with that first place Penn State squad: Friday night at 9 p.m. and Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.  The Nittany Lions are currently the #2 ranked team nationally, according to the latest American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) poll, trailing only unbeaten and untied Illinois.

 

For the second night in a row Scranton took the early lead Sunday evening, getting an even strength goal from sophomore forward Jerry Malanga at 6:10 of the first period.  It turned out to be the only goal scored in the game’s opening 20 minutes of play.

 

The Midshipmen evened the score 1-1 midway through the second stanza, getting a power play goal from junior forward Jeff Martin shortly after he emerged from the penalty box, with classmate and linemate John Patrick Culliton getting the lone assist.

 

Less than three minutes later Navy took its first lead of the night, getting an even strength tally from junior forward Matt Swezey at the 11:20 mark, with the assists going to classmate Alex Wallis and sophomore Andrew Ochalek.  The Mids extended their lead to 3-1 four minutes later when they swarmed the Scranton goal and senior forward Nick Schwob found the back of the net at 15:37, assisted by junior Jon Westerman.

 

Scranton closed the gap to 3-2 early in the third period, getting a “dump in” goal from senior forward Steven Kelly at 2:38.

 

Navy regained its two-goal advantage a little more than eight minutes later, when Alex Wallis picked up an even strength tally at 10:59, assisted by Chandler Brewer and Charlie Daniel.

 

The Mids put the game out of reach near the end of the final stanza, when senior forward Drew Stoner fed a beautiful pass to Westerman, who buried the puck at 14:19 to give Navy an insurmountable 5-2 lead.  Schwob picked up the other assist along with Stoner.

 

Navy’s netminder, sophomore Jeremey Estevez, played a strong game and was credited with 33 saves on 35 Scranton shots.  The Ice Royals’ Joe Cuozzo, meantime, recorded 30 saves on 35 Navy shots.

 

 

SCORING SUMMARY

 

NAVY                         0          3          2          -           5

Scranton                       1          0          1          -           2

 

First Period

S – Malanga (Lawall) 6:10

 

Second Period

N – Martin (Culliton) 8:47 (pp)

N – Swezey (Wallis, Ochalek) 11:20

N – Schwob (Westerman) 15:37

 

Third Period

S – Kelly (Esposito, Kocienda) 2:38

N – Wallis (Brewer, Daniel) 10:59

N – Westerman (Stoner, Schwob) 14:19

 

SAVES

Estevez (NAVY)          12        8          13        -           33

Cuozzo (Scranton)        11        8          11        -           30

 

SHOTS

NAVY                         11        11        13        -           35

Scranton                       13        8          14        -           35