Hockey loses heartbreaker in finale

The ECU club ice hockey team fell one game short of raising the Greg Stathis Memorial Championship Cup, Sunday, at home.

In what could only be described as a heartbreaker on ice, the Pirates (18-5-2, 10-1-2) lost the final game of the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference Tournament to George Washington in overtime, 6-5.

ECU created a two-goal cushion midway through the third period when Chris Cesario put a quick wrister past the George Washington goalie to make it 5-3 with 13:14 to go.

The Colonials answered back, putting home a rebound less than a minute later, and then taking a deep snipe past ECU goaltender Matt Dalgetty from the point to tie things up at 5.

With less than half the period to play and the BRHC Championship on the line, both teams gave a valiant effort to end this one in regulation, but it headed into overtime thanks to a great goaltenders' duel.

Just 40 seconds into the 4-on-4, five-minute overtime, a George Washington attacker attempted to put the puck on net only to be stonewalled by Dalgetty twice. On a third attempt, the attacker put the puck up and past Dalgetty to seal the deal for the Colonials, 6-5.

The BRHC Championship pitted ECU against the one team to beat them in conference play. George Washington brought an end to a great season, but the Pirates left with their heads held high.

"George Washington is a classy organization," captain Sean Burns said. "But we get better every year, so we can't wait for next year."

With the end of the season, ECU loses a valuable member of its blue line. Senior Donovan Dean, a huge defensive presence and anchor of the team, will be graduating this spring.

"This team, it's kind of a family environment," said Dean. "There is a lot of dedication from not only the coaches, but the players here."

After graduation, Dean will pursue a career as a U.S. Marshal.

In wake of this weekend, coach Mike Markham spoke highly of his team and its winning season.

"They've grown so much," said Markham. "It's a pleasure to be around them, and we really look forward to next year."

In the first period, George Washington scored first, but ECU flexed its power play muscle, scoring two goals on the man advantage. At 6:34, Philadelphia native Dave "Cheese" Orlando burned one in from the blue line and a minute later, Ryan Konchalski got in on the action as he too netted one from the point to send the Pirates to the locker room up 2-1.

With 19 seconds left in the third, a freak play tied the game at 3, as a long shot took a bad bounce to find its way into the ECU goal.

The Pirates surged early in the third as Burns beat the Colonial keeper less than a minute into the period. The Pirates gained a 5-3 lead, but allowed George Washington three unanswered goals to take the top spot in the season-ending matchup.

On Saturday, the Pirates earned their way into the finals as they sunk the Christopher Newport Captains, 7-4. ECU punished CNU with 41 shots-on-goal and started early. Burns swooped into the offensive zone and centered a pass to Konchalski 39 seconds into the game.

The second period was "The Steven Allbright Show" as he put the puck past the CNU keeper twice in the period to give his team the lead, 4-3.

In the third period, CNU came out of the locker room and earned a short-handed goal at 15:23 to tie the game up for the third time in the match, 4-4.

"It was obvious in the third period we wanted to take it home," Dalgetty said.

In the waning minutes of the game, the Pirates tightened down the hinges as Burns put the Pirates in the lead with his second goal of the game.

"Dave just dropped it off for me and I just wacked it in," Burns said of the play. "I prayed it would go in and it went in."

Sam Duehring and Orlando also added to the ECU lead as the Pirates left the Captains black and blue by a score of 7-4.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.