Spring Break
Hockey falls one game short of nationals
Michael Perry
Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: Sports
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Topping the Crimson Tide on Friday gave ECU a great boost of energy.
"It was a huge win for us," netminder Matt Dalgetty said. "It was great to win but we knew we had to focus right away because we had a tougher team coming up in Tennessee."
In search of the final seed for the South Region, the Pirates looked onward to take down the Volunteers. Unfortunately, the team's hope to make an appearance at nationals was smothered by penalty trouble and an aggressive Tennessee offense.
Tennessee led early on, posting a score of 5-2 early in the second, but the Pirates battled back scoring three unanswered goals to tie the game at 5. Just as ECU got within striking distance, a costly 5-on-3 started the team's downward spiral.
"When we started playing our game and stopped getting into the penalty box, we came back and had it tied up," Dalgetty said. "That's when the turning point looked like we were going to get back at these guys but right after that we went on a 5-on-3 penalty kill and that's when it started to disappear."
The Volunteers earned five more goals in the second and then three more in the third to snatch the reigns of the game from the Pirates, 13-7.
"It's always tough when you get that close to going to nationals for sure, but this team keeps getting better every year," assistant coach Kelley Smith said.
Falling to Tennessee eliminated ECU from national contention. The loss delivered a crushing blow to a great season, but now with regional play behind them, the Pirates turn over a new leaf as they return home this weekend to host the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference Tournament.
"Well fortunately this time around it will be easy to bounce back because it's our tournament; we're hosting it," Smith said.
The BRHC chose Greenville's very own indoor pond, Bladez on Ice, as the site for the conference tournament. This year's tournament welcomes 12 teams, the largest turnout since the formation of the conference in 2001.
The tournament will be played in a single elimination dual bracket format. The first bracket pairs the Atlantic Division vs. the Carolina Division and the other consists entirely of Colonial Division teams. The winner of the Carolina/Atlantic bracket will take home the BRHC Championship Cup and the winner of the Colonial bracket will hoist the Greg Stathis Memorial Championship Cup.
The Pirates, 10-1-1 in conference play, will be the heavy favorite as they punished conference opponents all season long.
"We won the regular season so we should definitely win the conference tournament," Smith said about the upcoming weekend. "Due to the team's regular season success, ECU earned an automatic bid to the semifinal round of the Colonial playoff."
This weekend's festivities will also include two award ceremonies prior to the semifinal round. The Mike Brown Award ceremony will take place Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and the Joseph Baratta Award Ceremony will take place at 7:30 p.m.
The Pirates' potential second round opponents are Christopher Newport and Salisbury. ECU will play host to its second round opponent Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.
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