Pittsburgh, PA- Managing just 27 shots on the evening CHE Red recorded 11 less than CHE Black but still came away victorious, 7-5. Stealing the show and leading the Red team to victory was the games MVP John Miller. Miller, from California University of Pennsylvania, had a game high 4 points with 2 goals and 2 assists.
In a new format this season College Hockey Association (CHA) players were added to the games rosters. For their first year participating in the all-star game the CHA players had a good showing. Of all the CHA skaters Cody Stackmann-Staves of Pitt-Greensburg recorded the most points with 2 goals on the evening for the Red team.
It took five minutes before Brendan Boyle of Robert Morris broke the scoreless game to give the Red team a 1-0 lead. Just three minutes later another Robert Morris player would find the back of the net as Grant Faulker scored for the Black team to tie the game back at 1-1. The Black would take the lead 30 seconds later as Matt Cieslik of Medaille scored to break the tie at 2-1.
With only three goals being scored in the first 10 minutes of the first period, both goalies combined to save 29 of 32 in the period. Red’s Matt Wynn of Robert Morris saved 17 of 19 while Black’s Shane Bickar of Cal U saved 12 of 13.
1:12 into the second period Miller started his path to MVP scoring his first of the game tying the score at 2-2. Just under 15 minutes in the second the game saw its second power play and first of the game for the Red team. Unlike the Black teams opportunity the Red team capitalized off Miller’s stick giving him his second of the game and the Red team a 3-2 lead. Continuing with the pressure and looking to build on their lead the Red team added another goal at 10:48 to take a 4-2 lead thanks to Derek Grove of Pitt-Johnstown. Halfway through the game and trailing by two the Black team looked to get back in the game and were able to with a goal from Tyler McLaughlin from Medaille making it 4-3. Only holding a one goal lead now and just two minutes reaming in the second the Black team was gaining momentum. Their momentum was stopped when Stackmann-Staves scored his first of the game to give the Red a two goal lead back at 5-3.
A second period that was full of goals saw 12 less shots than the first period. The Red’s Dave Dunkelberger from Pitt-Johnstown stopped 12 of 13 while the Blacks Brian D’Angelo of Medaille stopped only 3 of 7.
The third period opened up with the Black team trailing by two goals. Being unable to score in the first five minutes the Black team began playing with a sense of urgency that resulted in a goal at 14:29 by DJ Beitel of St. Vincent. Only trailing by one now the Black team would tie the game up less than a minute later when Anthony Marodi of Pitt-Greensburg scored to tie the game at 5-5. With both teams looking for a game winner Mike Puskar of St. Vincent added just that at 10:42 when he scored for the Red team giving them a 6-5 lead. The Red team would add one more goal at 7:51 on the power play when Stackmann-Staves scored his second of the game to give the Red a 7-5 lead.
In the third period the goalies were a matchup of CHA players with the Red having Scott Van Horn of CCAC who stopped 4 of 6 and the Black Ryan Palonis of Pitt-Greensburg who stopped 5 of 7.
Miller and Stackmann-Staves were not the only players to record multiple points as Josh Werner of Cal U and Doug Clayton of Fredonia State each had 2 assists. The CHE point leader Justin Locante was held scoreless in the contest, although he was a member of the winning team.
This game served as a tryout for players vying for a spot on the CHE/CHA Challenge team. The Challenge team will compete against other leagues teams from around the nation at the ACHA All-Star Challenge Weekend being held in West Chester, PA March 30th through April 1st. Players will be selected from the Challenge Weekend, forming a team that will travel to Europe over the semester break during the 2012-2013 season.
The CHE/CHA Challenge team will be announced on February 1st.
