Tag Archives: Chad Brears

Michigan Tech 10, UAH 4

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If you’d told me at 2:00 p.m. today that UAH would score two power-play goals and four overall, I’d have felt pretty good about the boys’ chances of winning.  Instead, the Michigan Tech Huskies (12-14-6, 10-8-4 WCHA) potted seven second-period goals, which set the UAH school record for most goals allowed in a period.  In all, the teams combined for a modern D-I record 14 goals, with ten of them going to the Huskies (tying the UAH season high for goals allowed) while the boys in Blue and White (1-28-1, 1-18-1 WCHA) scored just four, also a season high.

Let’s just not discuss the goals allowed.  It’s better that way.

The UAH goals were scored by:

  1. Regan Soquila (Maple Ridge, B.C., 2nd goal), who took a feed from Jack Prince (Leicester, England, 3rd assist) low in the slot that gave him an open net for a hot wrister just :44 after the Huskies’ first marker.  Chad Brears (Cold Lake, Alta., 2nd assist) also picked up an assist.
  2. Prince (4th goal), who picked up a feed from Steven Koshey (Trail, B.C., 6th assist) behind the net, skating just along the top of the crease while waiting for Pheonix Copley (19 sv, 8-8-5) to open up; when he did, the Prince of Huntsville back-handed the puck along the ice and into the Tech net.
  3. Prince again (5th goal) on the power play early in the third, tipping a Brears (3rd assist) shot from the point set up by a feed from Koshey (7th assist).  The boys thought that Chad had scored this one, but it was credited to Jack on the video review.
  4. Brears (5th goal) scored a power-play goal on a rebound of a Prince (4th assist) shot.  Alex Allan (Calgary, Alta., 2nd assist) picked up the other assist.

But otherwise, it was a nightmare.  Matt Larose (Nanaimo, B.C., 0-14-1) picked up 35 saves on 42 shots on before leaving the ice in favor of Carmine Guerriero (Montréal, Québec, 12 sv on 15 shots).  Larose was visibly upset as he left the ice, and that’s understandable.

This one was ugly.

Michigan Tech 4, UAH 1

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Blake Pietila and Tanner Kero each scored two goals to lead the host Michigan Tech Huskies (11-14-6 overall, 9-8-4 WCHA) over UAH (1-27-1 overall, 1-17-1 WCHA) by a 4-1 score at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton, Mich.

The Chargers’ lone goal came at 9:28 of the third period just as a Husky penalty expired.  A shot into the pads of MTU netminder Pheonix Copley (20 sv, 7-8-5) settled at the feet of senior winger Alex Allan (Calgary, Alb.), who skated right-to-left across the goal mouth to beat Copley to the left-wing post to net his team-leading fifth goal of the season.  Jack Prince (Leicester, England) and Doug Reid (Innisfil, Ont.) picked up the assists, their third and fifth, respectively.

Carmine Guerriero (Montréal, QC, 38 sv, 1-14-0) got the start in net for the Chargers, leaving for an apparent groin injury with 11:05 left in regulation.  Matt Larose (Nainaimo, B.C., 9 sv) came in to relieve his fellow freshman, allowing Pietila’s second marker.

In all, the Chargers killed four of their five power plays, including a checking-from-behind major on Chad Brears just 0:40 into the second period.

The Chargers face the Huskies at 4:07 p.m. Huntsville time on Saturday afternoon.

Northeastern 9, UAH 1

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There’s lots of excitement about the future of Charger hockey. There was lots of excitement heading into Friday night as UAH represented the WCHA for the first time.

But there will still be days like this, when you realize you’re rebuilding and have seven freshmen making their college debuts.

Northeastern hit the Chargers early and often, dominating the first period and never looking back in an 9-1 win over UAH Friday night in the season opener for both teams. Both teams face off again Saturday at 6 p.m (Catching the Game).

The Huskies came out shooting, and it wasn’t long before their top scorer Kevin Roy got on the board. His spin move from between the circles bounced off the crossbar past freshman goalie Matt Larose gave NU a 1-0 lead just 46 seconds in.

On the Huskies’ first power play, Dalen Hedges took a Zach Aston-Reese pass in the left circle and snapped it over Larose for a 2-0 advantage at 6:07.

NU already had an 11-1 shots advantage at that point, but after Brandon Clowes was called for a hitting-from-behind major with a game misconduct, the Huskies poured it on. In the ensuing five-minute power play, NU extended its lead to 4-0 after goals from Matt Benning and Braden Pimm in a 10-shot barrage.

Larose was pulled after the fourth goal, stopping 16 of 20 shots in just 11 minutes. The other freshman net minder, Carmine Guerriero, was peppered immediately, and he stopped five pucks in his first minute alone.

At one point, NU had a 23-1 shots advantage. UAH would close a little thanks to two power plays late in the period, but could not convert.

Larose came back in goal to start the second, and the Chargers were able to get a few more opportunities for themselves. However, a loose puck goal by Mike McMurtry at 5:31 made it 5-0, Adam Reid at 15:10 made it 6-0, and Roy’s second goal of the night made it 7-0.

UAH finally got on the board with 1:11 to go in the second. Brandon Carlson’s shot rebounded off of goalie Clay Witt, and Chad Brears followed up in the slot for his first goal of the season. Frank Misuraca got the second assist.

Braden Pimm earned his own game misconduct on a contact to the head penalty, but the Chargers couldn’t fully realize a major power play due to penalties of their own. Most of the second period and early in the third was full of whistles: UAH had 10 penalties, while NU had 12.

Ryan Belonger scored at 4:41 of the third period, and Roy finished his hat trick with 1:52 to go to finish the scoring.

Northeastern outshot UAH 52-27. Larose finished with 35 saves on 44 shots. Guerriero had eight saves in just under nine minutes.  — Michael Napier

Commentary: What do you say about a night like tonight?  I think that you have to focus on three things:

  1. The penalties are an obvious thing to control.  The game was called very tightly, and the guys have to react to that.  I don’t think that either major penalty was more than a minor, but a) I don’t wear stripes and b) it’s early in the season, and we usually see points of emphasis.  The boys just have to rein that one in — and you can see how it affected both teams.
  2. Northeastern has a speed advantage, and the boys have to work strategically to get them wider and slower.  The Huskies were at their best tonight when slashing through center ice, as you can see by, well, anything that Mike Szmatula did on the ice.
  3. The power play didn’t do the best job of handling the puck and holding it in the offensive zone.  That has to be better.  No matter what the Huskies’ forwards can do to use their speed advantage, the point guys have to do a better job holding the puck in, moving it lower, and taking shots.

Herm Edwards liked to say, “We can build on this.”  Yes, we can.  After the last few years, it’ll be more interesting to see Game 21 than Game 1. — Geof Morris

UAH 10, UAT 0

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It was more than a little bit “same song, second verse” on Sunday afternoon at the VBC. After a 12-1 rout on Saturday night, the Chargers came out and shut out the Frozen Tide, 10-0.

It took the boys a little while to get started on the goal column, even though they were working Coach K2‘s system pretty hard. Jack Prince (London, England) kicked the scoring off with an unassisted goal, leading a barrage of five goals in 3:13. Following Prince were Doug Reid (Innisfill, Ont.) from Craig Pierce (Roswell, Ga.) and Stephen Hickey (Ancaster, Ont.), Pierce from Reid and Mat Hagen (Ottawa, Ont.), Prince unassisted, and Tyler Kotlarz (Hudsonville, Mich.) unassisted. Reid and Pierce’s goals came in such quick succession that PA announcer Taylor Flatt was unable to get Reid announced before Pierce scored.

The second period was another slow start for goal scoring before Hickey scored at 12:47 on an assist from Pierce. Prince picked up his hat trick at 14:55 on assists from Kotlarz and Michael Webley (Stittsville, Ont.). The Frozen Tide held the Chargers to just nine shots on goal while making five of their own count. Junior netminder CJ Groh (Cincinnati, Ohio), having not seen a shot in the first frame, stopped all five.

Scoring in the third was a little more spread out. Hickey scored at 7:14 on assists from Chad Brears (Cold Lake, Alta.) and Reid. The final Charger goals came 18 seconds apart: Kotlarz from Prince at 12:45, then Webley from Hagen at 13:03. Freshman goaltender Gregg Gruehl (Dublin, Ohio) saw just one shot in the final frame. On the weekend, the Chargers outshot the Frozen Tide 108-11.

Coach Ken Kleinendorst was happy after the game. “We tried to work on some things that will help us move forward.” When asked how the team is progressing, Kleinendorst, said, “I think so. I think that we definitely have the bodies to put together to put a pretty solid lineup on Friday night [against Mankato]. I’m getting a good feel for the guys, but I still need a better feel.”

When asked about the start to his career, Prince said, “It’s been a long wait. It’s hard to watch junior teams get ready to play and have to wait longer.” He was happy to have the opportunity to get to know his teammates’ tendencies on the ice, saying, “It was nice for us freshman. We got to see what everyone else was going to be doing. It helped us play along. We sorta know where to be based on watching video, but when you get into a game situation, it’s different. It was nice to have two games where to figure out where to be at the right time.” Asked about the speed of the college game, he said, “It’s a big step up from juniors. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

The Chargers have four days of rest and practice before facing Minnesota State University, Mankato on Friday night at Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center. Tickets at all levels of the arena are FREE, so please come out and support your Chargers and bring all of your friends (and some of your enemies).

Quick Hits

Have a great rest of the week, and be sure to come out to the game on Friday night! It’s free, you know.

UAH 12, UAT 1

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Less than a year after retired UASystem chancellor Mack Portera relegated the program to club status after February 2012, and ten months to the day that UAH President Dr. Robert Altenkirch extended the varsity life of the program for the forseeable future, it just so happened that a team from Big Bad UAT would come to Huntsville to try and beat up on Little Sister UAH.

While the Chargers and Crimson Tide have tangled a little of late—men’s basketball has held their own in exhibition games each of the last two seasons, after which the Chargers would progress to the Division II Elite Eight—this was Huntsville’s chance to shine brightly, with UA’s Frozen Tide club team coming to play the varsity Chargers. It was the one-sided contest that everyone expected it to be; I’d joked for a good three weeks that it would be Alabama (+6.5) on the road, just to see if football fans noticed. Saturday night’s game would prove to be a 12-1 stampede of the sort that Nick Saban would appreciate.

With Kurt Kleinendorst still in his first month as UAH’s head coach, everyone was excited to see what would transpire. K2‘s charges scored early and often. Nashville’s Sebastian Geoffrion lit the lamp with just :30 gone with a back-hand shot between Sean Vinson’s pads. Atlanta’s Kyle Lysaght followed his linemate’s lead, scoring the first of his five goals just 2:17 later.

“I saw a lot of things that I liked,” Kleinendorst said. “We’ve only been together a little while, and we did some good things. We did some things that we’re going to have to find a way to do better. … It’s a win. We’ll take it, but I don’t want to get carried away with it.”

The Chargers kept building momentum, with goals from Lysaght and Curtis deBruyn (Calgary, Alb.) followed by shorthanded goals from Nashville’s Brice Geoffrion and Lysaght. From there, the Chargers cruised to victory. Freshman Chad Brears (Cold Lake, Alb.) scored twice, freshman Steve Koshey (Trail, BC) scored once, and junior Alex Allan (Calgary, Alb.) scored late in the second after knocking a guy through the corner door in the first period. The three stars of the game were deBruyn (1-3–4), Justin Cseter (Menomonie, Wis.) (0-4–4) and Lysaght (5-0–5).

Neither Charger netminder saw much work in the game. Freshman Gregg Gruehl (Dublin, Ohio) got the win, seeing only three shots on goal in two period, all in the second. Junior CJ Groh (Cincinnati, Ohio) saw one shot on goal in his 20:00 of action.

Alabama coach Mike Quenneville (UAH ’90) was clearly excited about the opportunity that playing the Chargers presents to his team. “We preach stuff every day, and when we get an opportunity to play a team that does everything so right, and have got the speed, it’s going to make us a better hockey team.”

Alabama scored midway through the second period, as 5’4″ Huntsville native Mark Wysock, an aerospace engineering student in Tuscaloosa found open space in the slot to push in a tumbling rebound for a power-play goal.

Kleinendorst seemed happy with his team’s effort. “For the most part, the guys went out and executed the plan that we’ve put in place up to this point. This is not about winning. This is about the process. When you play the game the right way, when you work your way through the process, winning is a by-product of that.”

The teams play the second game of the series at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, and Quenneville is ready to see his team face the challenge. “[The Alabama players] are going to get faster, they’re going to be smarter, they’re going to move the puck quicker. We’re definitely going to get better for this experience.”