Schwartzbauer’s goal leads ’Hounds to 6-3 win

Youngstown picked up two important points by beating the Wichita Thunder.

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

YOUNGSTOWN — With the Youngstown SteelHounds clinging to a 3-2 lead late in the second period, defenseman Nathan Schwartzbauer outraced Wichita Thunder goalie Bill Zaniboni to a loose puck and scored a short-handed, unassisted goal.

Little did Schwartzbauer realize how big that play was in propelling the SteelHounds to a 6-3 Central Hockey League victory before 4,162 fans at the Chevrolet Centre.

“Those were the biggest two points [for the win] of the year so far,” SteelHounds coach Kevin Kaminski. “We were headed to a 3-2 game in the third period and anything could have happened.

“That play gave us momentum and an important win.”

Every win is important for the SteelHounds as they battle for playoff position with just 10 games remaining in the season.

Youngstown (66 points) stayed ahead of Mississippi for second place in the Northeast Division and remains in fourth place in the Northern conference playoff chase.

The SteelHounds have one more game against the Thunder today at 4:05 p.m.

Schwartzbauer’s play came with 1:31 left in the second period and Wichita on the powerplay.

The defensemen pitched the puck loose and down the ice and he raced to get it while Zaniboli came up the ice to nearly the blue line to try to beat Schwartzbauer to the puck.

Schwartzbauer won the race broke free down the sideline toward the net and slid the puck into a wide-open net.

“There was no way that the goalie was going to beat me,” said Schwartzbauer who scored his second goal in as many nights and third on the season. “That’s an honor for coach to say how important that play was for us.

“It’s important that I can help the team like that.”

The Steelhounds went on to score two more goals early in the third period by Mark Odut and Kevin Jarman to put the game away.

Odut’s goal was his second of the night and third against Wichita.

“It feels good to contribute like that,” Odut said of his multiple goals. “I’ve scored more in the past but Coach brought me here to play defense and that has been my role this year.”

Youngstown wasted little time in establishing control of the game by scoring just 2:16 into the first period. Bryan Lachapelle received a pass in front of the net from Joel Irving and sent it into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

The goal was just Lachapelle’s fourth of the season.

The SteelHounds expanded the lead to 2-0 on Odut’s 8th goal and second in as many nights.

Later in the period, Youngstown scored on a power-play goal by Joel Irving on an assist from Eric Main and Steve Birnstill.

Wichita cut the lead to 3-2 when Youngstown goalie Andy Franck got caught behind the net, leaving a wide open net for Kyle Bruce.

“We’re starting to get more consistent,” Kaminski said. “We need to have that killer instinct and I felt like we showed that a little tonight.”

Kaminski said that the second period wasn’t the team’s best but Schwartzbauer’s play ignited the team in the final period.

“We’ve got to keep this going into [today’s] game,” Kaminski said. “I think the guys are starting to get that winning feeling and we’ve got to keep playing well.”