St. Francis Xavier shutout New Hampshire, 2-0, Saturday night in the Wildcats only exhibition game of the season. St. Francis Xavier’s Drew Owsley led the way with 30 saves.
“He is our key guy back there,” St. Francis Xavier coach Brad Peddle said. “In a year like this, when we are hosting the national championship, he has to be one of our best players, and tonight I think everyone certainly saw he was. He is a true competitor who never gives up on a shot and you can see for even a smaller goalie he is very competitive and gets across the net very quickly.”
St. Francis Xavier took the 1-0 lead 1:26 into the second period on a centering feed from Nathan Chiarlitti. Chiarlitti dished a pass to Michael Kirkpatrick in the slot, who calmly slipped the puck under UNH goaltender Adam Clark. The freshman goalie finished the night with 10 saves in 40 minutes between the pipes.
Kirkpatrick’s goal turned out to be the game-winner thanks to Owsley’s stellar performance.
“[Kirkpatrick] is one of the most skilled players in our league,” Peddle said. “He’s 24 years old and he’s won a Memorial Cup with St. John’s Sea Dogs and signed a pro contract, but it didn’t work out so he ended up going back to school. We’ve always known what he can do and he is certainly the catalyst for our offense.”
UNH sophomore Jamie Regan relieved Clark at the start of the third period and was tested right away. A lapse in judgement from UNH captain Matt Willows led to a double minor near the end of the second period.
When asked about his unusual physical play, Willows noted that he was just trying to get some energy going.
“We came out a little flat tonight and you’ve got to play physical every once and awhile and get the boys going.”
New Hampshire coach Dick Umile noted that he doesn’t think Willows edgy play will continue.
“Hopefully, it’s not because he is the captain and he needs to lead by example and showing frustration would not be a good, but he will be OK,” said Umile. “He’s a good leader and he is going to be a good captain.”
St. Francis Xavier took 40 seconds of power-play time into the third period. With seconds left on the advantage, Eric Locke fired a far-corner pass along the goal line to a wide-open Kirkpatrick. Regan, fresh off two periods on the bench, swiftly moved to the near post to make the stop. Regan finished the night with seven saves.
About a minute later, St. Francis Xavier extended its lead on another slot opportunity. Blake Gal blasted a shot from the blue line and Steven Kuhn made the deflection just inside the circles for a 2-0 lead.
With 3:38 left in regulation, Umile opted to pull Regan for the extra attacker, but a number of penalties on both sides led to few opportunities for UNH to close the gap or even tie the game.
The challenge for New Hampshire this season will be filling the void from last season’s departures. Four out of the team’s top five point-getters and three out of five of its top goal scorers from last season are gone. To make matters more difficult, the team was forced to find a new answer in net when senior Casey DeSmith was suspended last month after he was charged with assault and resisting arrest. This year’s squad boasts 10 freshmen.
“I think we got a good look at them and there is some skill there.” said Umile. “For all of the young guys it’s about playing within the system.”
