While the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers are threatening to finish with their worst record ever in Division I play and perhaps with the fewest wins in a season in team history, the 2007-08 home slate ended well in Huntsville with the home team earning a 4-3 win and split with No. 20 Niagara University in front of 2,251 at the Von Braun Center.<\/p>\n
The Chargers’ defense actually carried the team to victory, as sophomore Brennan Barker netted two goals, including the game winner. <\/p>\n
“Niagara makes it pretty hard for defensemen to put pucks in the net,” Alabama-Huntsville coach Danton Cole said. “They do a pretty good of blocking up perimeter shots, and they also cover up the back side where the ‘D’ can sneak in and do a good job.”<\/p>\n
Niagara carried the scoring early, as Matt Caruana scored on a power play opportunity with just over two minutes left in the first period, and speedy teammate Brian Haczyk netting the Purple Eagles’ second goal
\nwith just a hair over two minutes gone in the second. <\/p>\n
“Barker’s first goal was a pretty hard shot,” Cole remarked of the defenseman’s hard blast from the left point past Niagara netminder Juliano Pagliero, who shut out the Chargers the previous night.<\/p>\n
Tom Train put the Chargers even at two just past the halfway point of the game. <\/p>\n
“You can see why we’ve missed him in the lineup,” Cole said about his recently-injured forward. “He’s kind of a sloppy player, but he gets in there and skates hard and hits guys. He’s always scoring goals and going to the net, and he’s great in the locker room.”<\/p>\n
Niagara had a good bit of jump early in the third, capped off by Ryan Annesley’s power-play goal just over six minutes into the third period, which quieted the home crowd a bit. Annesley’s effort ensured that the Purple Eagles finished the night perfect on the power play, making the Chargers pay for both penalties they took.<\/p>\n
Cole was happy with how his charges responded to Annesley putting the visitors up 3-2. <\/p>\n
“There’s not a lot of quit in them. We’re slowly getting stuff and putting ourselves in position to win games. This is our best win of the year; those guys are ranked No. 20 in the nation and had only lost eight games all year.” <\/p>\n
The Chargers were playing with a short bench all night, as assistant captain Josh Murray got injured on his first shift, leaving the team short a center. <\/p>\n
“It was a real good test for us against a great team,” Cole said. “We ended up shortening ourselves to three lines and spotting the other two guys out there, but we just had to suck it up and go.”<\/p>\n
Freshman Joey Koudys worked a puck through traffic and netted his second career goal to tie the game at three. <\/p>\n
“Joey is just skating well right now and attacking. He’s not letting the game come to him, and he’s earned extra ice time and is killing penalties for us.”<\/p>\n
Of Barker’s game-winner, Cole stated, “It was just moving the puck and flopping it on night. Some nights, like last night, you can’t get a shot through to the net, and tonight, we were getting the breaks.” <\/p>\n
Barker’s shot came in through traffic again from the left point, and looked to be intended more for redirection than a goal, but put the Chargers up by one with 3:45 to play. Despite pulling Pagliero for an extra attacker with over a minute left, the home team reined victorious.<\/p>\n
The two teams each face the Colonials of Robert Morris University next. Niagara hosts RMU next weekend, while the Chargers travel to Pittsburgh after a week off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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