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Winning season finished off with second place |
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Thursday, 01 March 2007 |
by Danielle Beavers
Online Intern
Over the weekend, the Appalachian State University ice hockey team traveled to Yorktown, Va., to participate in the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference playoffs.
The Mountaineers came out with a second place title to add to their successful season.
This was the first time the Mountaineer ice hockey program had a winning regular season record, 11-4, in its history.
Continuing
his strong offensive power, sophomore forward Sal Blair led the team
this weekend with 3 goals. Goalie Eric Chast was also one of the main
links in the success of the team, with approximately 100 saves among
the three games.
Friday night, ASU took on Clemson University in a close, late-night game.
ASU scored first and kept its lead through much of the game to beat
Clemson, 3-2, with goals scored by junior Sal Blair, senior Pete
LaGrange and Curt Omlie.
During regular season, the Mountaineers lost two games to East Carolina
University, and ASU was given another chance Saturday. Like the rest of
the tournament, ASU scored first and dominated through a penalty-filled
game. Goalie, sophomore Eric Chast, led ASU with 32 saves.
“This weekend, our success falls solely on Eric’s chest. We were
significantly out shot in both games and he came in and kept us in the
game. He came out big when we needed him,” senior John Hauser said.
Due to the high tension between the teams, ECU had three players kicked out of the game, but ASU kept its composure.
The Mountaineers went on to win 5-3 against the Pirates. Junior Nick
Livy, Chris Tyrrell, Blair, Omnlie and Forthe Carson scored Saturday’s
goals.
“ECU was the regular season champs so we knew they would put up a
fight, but we were able to overcome with the support of our fans and
Eric Chast’s outstanding goaltending,” LaGrange said.
In the finals, ASU took on the University of Richmond. Richmond came
out and took a quick lead, and the Mountaineers lost 9-1. Blair brought
in the sole goal.
“We were definitely underdogs, we were third seat coming in, playing
the No. 2 seat, Clemson, and No. 1 seat ECU. Surprisingly we had more
fans than both of those teams. We were set off by the energy,” Hauser
said.
Going into the playoffs, the Mountaineers were considered underdogs and
went on to defeat the regular season first and second place teams. The
BRHC playoffs were the last games for senior captains Pat Veedock and
Alex Hogan as well as seniors James Birkett and Hauser.
The seniors were a major part of the success this season and will be missed next season.
“We came into this weekend with a golden opportunity, the opportunity
to shock some people and make a name for ourselves as well as our
program. We wanted to demand respect and push ourselves to the next
level. Unfortunately, we fell a little short of the goal we had set for
this weekend, but there is no reason to be disappointed in the way we
played,” Coach Joseph Clements said.
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