Late goal sends M/U to overtime win over Cards

By Chuck Housteau

BOARDMAN — A controversial decision on a goal by the Mooney-Ursuline hockey team at the end of Monday’s regulation allowed the Thunder to tie Canfield 3-3 and force an overtime period.

Mooney-Ursuline took advantage in the extra session and scored the game winner at 4:34 of overtime on a goal by Josh Charleton off of a rebounded shot by Will Baringer.

The Thunder (13-13) captured the Steel Valley Cup with the 4-3 win at the Ice Zone.

The game matched an Ohio High School Athletic Association team, Canfield, against a Northeast Ohio Hockey League (club) team, Mooney-Ursuline, which is made up of players from many of the area’s high schools.

Mooney-Ursuline couldn’t take advantage of Canfield throughout the contest despite controlling the puck and pestering the Cardinal goal with 63 shots.

The Thunder broke through in the final seconds of regulation when Baringer stuffed in a puck at the buzzer that seemed to sit under the pads of Canfield’s freshman goalkeeper Roger Geiser.

Geiser who had saved 55 shots at that point and 59 for the contest, seemingly had saved the game for the Cards who were nursing a 3-2 lead.

The referee ruled, however, after several minutes of consultation that the puck had indeed crossed into the net and was pulled out by Geiser.

The goal tied the game and gave new life to the Thunder.

It was Baringer again who set up the game-winning shot in overtime when he blasted a shot at Geiser who deflected it with his shoulder and forced the puck to the ice on the right of the net.

Charleton picked it up and pushed it past Geiser for the game-winner.

“I just saw the puck come off the goalie and went for it,” said Charleton who attends East Palestine High. “I was able to get my stick on it and get it into the net.”

Thunder coach Lou Morocco said the win was one of the team’s best of the season.

“This was the best,” Morocco said. “The crowd was great and the atmosphere exciting.

“That goalie of theirs [Geiser] was a wall,” Morocco said. “He stopped everything. We couldn’t get anything past them. That was the key to Canfield’s game.”

Canfield coach Randy Emery said that the Cards played their best game of the season in the losing effort.

“This was our best game,” Emery said. “They beat us 9-2 in the Thanksgiving tournament so we’ve come a long way.

“I said prior to the game that we would have to take advantage of our opportunities to have a chance to win and we did that enough to get a lead.

“We just couldn’t hold on to it until the final buzzer.”

Emery didn’t agree with the call that allowed the game to go into overtime but said his team gave a great effort.

Canfield scored first on an unassisted goal by Roger Geiser’s brother Joe who scored a breakaway goal on a power play with 12:26 left in the first period.

Mooney-Ursuline tied the game at 1-1 on a goal with 31.1 seconds left in the period on a goal by Ryan Demyen.

Despite outshooting Canfield 25-7 in the first period, the score was tied at 1-1.

There was no scoring in the second period although the Thunder continued to pressure Geiser by shooting 19 more shots on goal to just four for Canfield.

The Cards took a 2-1 lead in the third on another unassisted goal by Joe Geiser and Mooney-Ursuline tied it on a rebound shot by Alex Figuly with 12:26 left in regulation.

Canfield broke through to take the lead at 3-1 with 3:13 left on a shot by Riley Emery on an assist by Tyler Buchenic.