By Dan Hestin
For IUPHockey.com

Published on: March 1, 2010       Comment      Email This Post      Print This Post

Going  into the College Hockey Mid-America playoffs, the Crimson Hawks were seeded 4th but had all the confidence of winning a championship ono their home ice.  After knocking off #5 seed Pitt and #1 seed Slippery Rock, the Crimson Hawks made their first ever appearance in the CHMA Playoff finals against #2 seed West Virginia.

The Crimson Hawks came out flying in the championship game keeping all the pressure in the WVU zone.  Joe Ford gave the Crimson Hawks a 1-0 lead one minute and three seconds into the game as he tipped in a shot from Corey Beers.  WVU and goalie Chris Wilder withstood the onslaught of pressure and with 7:39 left in the first, Mitch Rosendale tied the game 1-1.

The second period started out similiarly to the first with the Crimson Hawks controlling the play.  Chris Wilder continued to turn away shot after shot from the Crimson Hawks.  At the 16:25 mark, Brett Hart gave WVU a 2-1 lead, a lead they would never relinquish,.  Two minutes and four seconds later, Kris Anderson converted on a 5 on 3 power play making it 3-1.  The teams continued to trade scoring chances but it was evident the air was starting to leak from the Crimson Hawks.  With 3:13 left in the second Luke Sonnefeld increased the lead to 4-1.  The Crimson Hawks had a chance to get back in the game late in the period but could not convert on a 4 on 3 power play.

Entering the third period, the Crimson Hawks knew they had to score and score fast.  EJ Stepano scored his third of the weekend on the power play with 16:04 left in the game making it 4-2.  The momentum gained by Stepano’s goal was short lived though.  Just under five minutes later, Tim Cutshaw’s goal took all the wind out of the Crimson Hawks sails.  Brandon Hoole and Nick Bodnar finished the scoring for WVU’s 8-2 win over the Crimson Hawks.

Quarter and Semi Final Recap

In the quarter final round, the  Crimson Hawk’s took on Pitt.  Pitt defeated IUP in the semi-finals last year4-3 in overtime.  Pitt was also looking to avenge the two regular season losses to the Hawks.  Pitt controlled and dictated most of the play in the first which allowed them to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission on goals by Graham Cohen and Joel Gasper.

The Crimson Hawks started to change the momentum of the game in the second period as Pitt started to wear down.  Lance Lewandowski gave the Hawks the spark they needed when he scored a short handed goal with 9:25 left in the period.  Pressure kept being applied by the Crimson Hawks and with twenty four seconds left in the period, Phil Trombetta poked home a rebound off a Joel Shriver shot.

The game stayed tied 2-2 until Jesse Kunkle ripped a slap shot from the point on a Crimson Hawk power play making it 3-2.  Trombetta got his second of the night when he out raced a Pitt defender and put it in the empty net with fifty-four seconds left in the game.

In the semi-final game, the Crimson Hawks had to face the #1 seed and CHMA regular season champion Slippery Rock.  Things got off to a great start for the Crimson Hawks as scored two power play goals thirty two seconds apart making it 2-0.  Kevin Bernardo got Slippery Rock on the board making it 2-1.  Brady Waldschmidt scored his first of the night on the power play tying the game 2-2.  JeffJoe Regula increased the lead to 3-2 with 1:53 left in the first off a pass from Joe Ford. 

Joe Ford gave the Crimson Hawks a 4-2 lead with a power play goal 4:48 into the second.  Slippery Rock continued to battle back as Matt Lancaster put home a power play goal making it 4-3.  Another quick answer to a SRU goal came off the stick of Corey Beers one minute and eight seconds later.  Ford tallied his second of the night with 5:47 remaining in the second.  Charles Plinkie increased the Crimson Hawk lead to 7-3 with a backhand goal to close out the second period.

Being down 7-3 going into the third period usually spells defeat for most teams. Not this Slippery Rock team.  Matt Lancaster notched his second of the game at the 17:23 mark of the period making it 7-4.  Lancaster capped off his hat trick with just about halfway through the third cutting the Hawks lead to 7-5.  Phil Trombetta gave the Hawks a little breathing room 1:42 later increasing the lead to 8-5.  SRU had no quit in them.  Ryan Nunez scored with 4:04 left in the period making it 8-6.  Brady Waldschmidt’s second of the game made it 8-7 with 1:50 left in the game.  The Hawks held on to move onto the finals.