Oakland routed rival Stoneybrook, 7-1, last night behind two goals each from Dan Oleksy and captain Brandon Lipari.The Grizzlies now advance to the national semifinal for the third straight season and will face the No. 2 seed from the West Region, Colorado State, tonight in Rochester, N.Y.
"Today was the best game we played all year as a team," OU head coach Sean Hogan said. "Top to bottom everyone was ready. I am very proud to be coaching this group of young men."
Oakland started off strong killing off an early 5-on-3 and quickly turned the tide with two power-play goals to lead 2-0 after one period of play.
"We liked the intensity," Oakland assistant coach J.R. Dunn said. "We reminded the team that Stoneybrook was very capable of mounting a comebcak, so we needed to stay smart and stay out of the box."
The Grizzlies kept the momentum throughout the second period in taking a 4-0 lead into the dressing room after 40 minutes.
"It was important to stay out of the box in the third," noted Hogan. "It can start to get chippy in games like this. I was happy to see our guys keep their heads."
Oakland was backstopped by exceptional play from their goaltender Chris Joswiak (pictured).
"Joz turned it up for this game," assistant coach Gordie Schaeffler said. "I was very pleased to see he is back on his game."
You can catch all the semifinal action live on Internet radio at www.achachampionships.com.
Joswiak photo by Matt Mackinder.
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