Falcons come up short in opener at national tourney
Connellsville had its back against the wall Wednesday morning against Missoula, Mont., in the opener of the Chipotle-USA Hockey High School National Championships in Plymouth, Minn.
The Falcons were without five of their regulars who weren’t able to make the trip north, and trailed 1-0 six minutes into the first period.
The Bruins also had a 7-0 advantage in shots on goal, but Connellsville goalie Nick Daniels-Nimick kept his team in the contest, as he stopped 13-of-14 shots on goal in the first period.
The Falcons could only muster three shots on goal in the frame, but was able to level the score at 1-1 with 4:26 remaining in the first when Nolan Wojnar set up Landon Garlick for an even-strength goal.
Connellsville held a 2-1 lead after two periods before Missoula scored three goals in the third frame for a 4-2 victory.
The Falcons fell to 0-1-0-0-0 in the USA 1A pool, while the Bruins improved to 1-0-0-0-0. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the quarterfinals.
Connellsville plays St. Joseph this evening at 8:30 p.m. at Maple Grove Community Center-Kottemann in Maple Grove, Minn. The Huskies earned a point for reaching overtime in a 5-4 setback to Frisco, Texas.
Missoula, who leads the group with three points, will play Frisco tonight at 8:15 p.m. Frisco is second in the pool with two points after its overtime victory over St. Joseph, Ind., in Wednesday’s action.
The Bruins’ Pason Phillips opened the scoring after receiving a pass from Andrew Blair before Garlick’s goal.
Missoula still had an advantage in shots on goal (9-5) in the second period, but the Falcons scored the lone goal in the frame when Logan Jenkins set up Riley Denny with 1:48 remaining in the period.
The Bruins dominated the third period with a 12-1 in shots on goal and a 3-0 edge in shots that beat Daniels-Nimick.
Colter Elam tied the contest with 11:50 left in the game Trask Johnson scored the game winner with 5:52 remaining. Jacob Pierson assisted on Elam’s goal. Gabriel Shepard and Elam had the helpers on Johnson’s tally.
Missoula added an insurance goal when Hatcher Fiebelkorn and Conner Nash set up John Seielstad with 4:05 left for a two-goal edge.
Connellsville pulled Daniels-Nimick for the final minute, and it had a power play for the last 55 seconds, but couldn’t muster anything offensively.
Daniels-Nimick stopped 31 shots (0.886 save percentage).
Both squads were 0-1 on the power play.