Ice Hockey drops to Appalachian State 6-4

Photo by Adam Baker | The Captain's Log

The CNU Ice Hockey team took the ice at the Hampton Roads IcePlex in another hard-hitting game, where the Captains fell just short at the end, delivering their first home loss of the season by Appalachian State University by a score of 6-4.

The Captains were short lined which was also a factor to the loss. This means that they were missing players, causing them to have one less line of skaters that they could put out during line changes.The game started out at a very high pace with both teams trying to keep possession of the puck.

Less than two minutes into the game, Appalachian State struck first with a goal, which was scored right in front of senior goalie Nick Thompson. The net was surrounded by players, which made it difficult for Thompson to see what was occurring around him. The goalie was not happy with his performance saying, “I can play better, there are no excuses.”

Ten minutes later, the Captains tied the game up, after a goal from sophomore forward Ryan Dove, with senior defender Kevin Schreiber on the assist.The rest of the period was a back and forth battle, but neither team was able to score again. The game when into its first intermission, notched at one. The second period would prove to be the most exciting period of the game.

Three minutes in, Dove scored his second goal of the game, on a blistering slap shot that gave the Captains the lead. His goal was unassisted. As soon as the puck hit the back of the net, the fans in attendance at the Hampton Roads IcePlex erupted with cheers.

With eight minutes left in the period, the same duo that gave the Captains their first goal of the game, knocked in the third goal as well. But this time it was Schreiber who would score the goal, on a beautiful assist from Dove.

In the blink of an eye the Captains were up by two, but Appalachian State was not going down without a fight.

With four minutes remaining in the second period, the Mountaineers scored their second goal of the game to pull within one.

The Captains thought that they would head into the second intermission up by a goal, but Appalachian State had other plans. With 22 seconds left in the second period Appalachian State struck again to tie the game up 3-3 heading into the final period.

The third period would be one dominated by the Mountaineers. A mere minute into the period, the Mountaineers scored, giving them a 4-3 lead. Less than a minute later they scored again.

Just like that the Captains were down by two goals. In the third period, penalties would end up being the Captains’ major downfall. Player after player was being sent to the penalty box.

Sophomore defender Kenny Zamborsky, who is out with an injury, watched the game from the bench and put it best when asked about the loss, “we need to take less penalties. The team worked hard for being short lined.”

With 10 minutes left in the third period, the Captains scored to pull within one. The goal came on an unassisted shot from junior forward Mark Dungan.
Down by only one goal, the Captains began to play with a whole new level of intensity, but it seemed as though they could not get the puck past the goalie.
With three minutes remaining in the game, the Mountaineers scored again to take a two-goal lead, which would put the game away. CNU would take their first home loss 6-4.

“We need to click. We have the big picture, but we need to work on the details,” said Thompson.

The game marked the first time the Captains played at 5:30 p.m. instead of the usual 11 p.m. start time. Regardless of the time change, there was still a great turnout from the Hockey Hooligans.

Next week the Captains take on rival team Old Dominion University on Friday Oct. 8, at 11 p.m. at the Hampton Roads IcePlex.

Posted by Cody Lloyd on Oct 6 2010. Filed under Hockey, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.