It’s a cliché, but Appalachian coach Tom Madson had to challenge his Mountaineers twice in Sunday’s finale of the BRHC Atlantic/Carolina Championship Tournament to look inside themselves and determine whether they wanted to win the title more than their opponent, Catholic University, did.
Before they hit the ice, Madson told them whichever team wanted to win more would prevail. And the Mountaineers went out and lit into the Cardinals, outshooting them 16-4 in the first period. Casey Krasen scored twice and Lee Shields once for a 3-1 App State lead after 20 minutes. Kyle Iobbi scored the Catholic goal.
App State retained that two-goal margin, at 5-3, through the end of the second period on goals by Lee Shields and Krasen.
But Chris Wenzel scored for Catholic 29 seconds into the third period and again less than five minutes later, and suddenly the Mountaineers and Cardinals were dead even at 5-5.
Madson admonished his troops for losing their focus. “When we were tied, I told them they (the Cardinals) must want it more,” Madson. “In the second period our team got complacent. They executed in the first period but got up three goals and started to play conservative hockey. We didn’t start the third period the way we wanted. We wanted to get the first goal.”
Enter Sal Blair, the team’s leading scorer. With about 5:30 left in regulation play, he gathered in a missed shot on the half-wall in the App State zone, chipped the puck off the boards and past a Catholic defenseman, and set sail for Catholic’s net. With a Cardinal closing in on his left, Blair ripped a slap shot from 35 feet that beat Catholic’s goalie cleanly. “That did it. He deserved the MVP,” said Madson. Blair had three goals and four assists in the Mountaineers’ two wins. Michael Skelton scored the clincher into an empty net with 40 seconds to go.
Unfortunately for Catholic, its best player and the BRHC’s leading scorer, Kevin Pecca, missed the game due to a concussion. “It would have been different with him playing,” said Greg Manning, Catholic’s coach.
Manning also bemoaned what would have been the sixth and tying goal for the Cardinals with 1:37 remaining when Kevin Harding knocked a rebound past App State’s All-BRHC goalie Cale Bowman. But the net had become dislodged and the goal was waived off. “That was one of the big turning points,” said Manning. “That was tough.”
His chin up, Manning is looking ahead to Bryan Abraham (goal, assist versus App State, Wenzel and Pecca maturing into even better players. “By the time they are seniors I expect us to be battling for the league lead and a spot in regionals.”
Recent Comments