Bucknell Edges Iona 11-10 in Eastern Championship Second Round

Nick Donahue

ANNAPOLIS, Md. --  Howie Kalter (So., Durham, N.H.) scored on an advantage opportunity with 1:40 left on the game clock in the fourth period for his fourth goal of the day and the deciding factor as Bucknell University escaped Iona College 11-10 in the second round of the 2008 Eastern Championship Tournament at the United States Naval Academy.

The Bison will next be in action at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, November 23 versus Johns Hopkins University in the fifth place game, while the Gaels will meet the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 2:30 p.m. in the seventh place contest.

Neither team could pull away from the other throughout the contest as Iona built a 2-0 lead in the first 90 seconds of play thanks to back-to-back tallies by Joe Przekota (Jr., Park Ridge, Ill.).

The lead evaporated by the end of the first period as Kalter scored on an exclusion chance at 3:19 to pull the Bison to within one.  Iona answered 12 seconds later on a successful penalty shot by Seth Tasman (So., Orlando, Fla.) to push the margin back to a pair of goals, but the Bison stampeded back behind even strength markers by Gabriel Heiber (Sr., Caracas, Venezuela) and Kalter at 2:46 and 1:07 to even the score at 3-3.  Bucknell took their first lead of the game with 17 seconds to go in the period as Richie Hyden (So., Melbourne, Australia) ripped a shot over the shoulder of goalie Eric Konzem (So., Humble, Texas) to put the Bison in front 4-3 after eight minutes of play.

Bucknell pushed the margin to two in the opening minutes of the second as Randy Ang (Jr., Hillsborough, Calif.) fired a catch-and-pass goal into the cage to make it 5-3 28 seconds into the period. 

Iona rushed back into the game with a natural goal by Trevor Creighton (Fr., Winter Park, Fla.) and an exclusion score by Przekota at 6:26 and 5:29, respectively, to knot the game at 5-5.  The lead lasted for over three minutes before Hyden tacked on his second score at the 2:12 mark to give the lead back to Bucknell at 6-5.  Alex Lovell (Sr., Palos Verdes, Calif.) built the margin to a pair of goals before halftime as he uncorked a shot with 28 ticks left in the first half to give the Bison a 7-5 lead at the break.

Following five minutes of scoreless play, Iona ended the scoring drought in the third with a goal by Przekota at 2:50 to complete a hat-trick and pull the Gaels back to within a goal at 7-6.  The single goal deficit lasted for less than a minute as the Bison received an exclusion score from Sean Coghlan (So., Chicago, Ill.) and a natural goal by Hyden at 1:56 and 40 seconds, respectively, to put Bucknell in front 9-6.

Once again, the Gaels would not quit as Przekota ended the third period with another score at the 17 seconds mark to pull his team back to within 9-7 entering the final eight minutes of play.

The Gaels knotted the game in less than 90 seconds to open the final period of play as Patrick St. Cin (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) unleashed a blast from the wing that found nothing but net at 7:30 and Ed Gronkowski (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) tallied an exclusion score at 6:37 for the equalizer.

Iona regained the lead at 10-9 for the first time since the 1:08 mark in the first period at 2:48 in the fourth as Tasman tacked on his second score, but the Bison could not be penned in as Kalter scored on back-to-back exclusions at 2:17 and 1:40 to tie and win the game for Bucknell.

The Gaels had a final chance to tie the game in the waning seconds of the period, but goalie Nick Donahue (Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) used his head for the final save, literally, as Iona's shot on a breakaway with less than 30 seconds to play hit him square on the top of the head and bounced out of play to preserve the win.

Donahue earned Player of the Game honors for making 13 saves, including four in the fourth period, to take the win, while Konzem blocked down 12 saves for the Gaels.

Iona Goals: Joe Przekota (5); Seth Tasman (2); Patrick St. Cin; Trevor Creighton; Ed Gronkowski 

Bucknell Goals: Howie Kalter (4); Richie Hyden (3); Alex Lovell; Gabriel Heiber; Sean Coghlan; Randy Ang

Saves:  Iona - Eric Konzem (12) ; Bucknell - Nick Donahue (13)

Ejections: Iona - 13 ; Bucknell - 10

Sprints: Iona - 1 (1st - Seth Tasman) ; Bucknell - 3 (2nd, 3rd & 4th - Richie Hyden)