PITTSBURGH, Pa. – February 23, 2022 – February 23, 2022 will forever be remembered as the day the Chatham men's hockey program took the next step. It made history in front of a raucous home crowd in the Frozen Pond Arena, winning its first playoff game ever 4-2 over Nazareth.
 
After a defensive stalemate through the first 13 minutes of action, Chatham broke the scoreless tie and secured a lead it would not relinquish on this historic night. Junior Tristan Hillebert took a rebounded shot and picked the opposite corner of the net to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
 
In the second, Chatham struck twice, including what turned out to be the game-winner. Firstly, senior Jason Bauer collected his first points of the season when he found junior Aidan Girduckis to put the game at 2-0. The eventual game winner came unassisted on a batted puck in midair by sophomore Liam Murphy, making it 3-0.
 
Although Nazareth got on the board in the second, Chatham never trailed in the game and would only add insurance just 18 seconds into the third period. Girduckis tailored a pass to junior Andrew Warhoftig who zipped the pass cross-ice for sophomore Carson Grainer, putting the score at 4-1. Nazareth found an answer at the seven-minute mark, but Chatham held on and secured the milestone win.
 
The Cougars outshot Nazareth 45-36 for the game and successfully killed off all four penalties that they permitted. Senior Ricardo Gonzalez made 34 saves in the winning effort.
 
Chatham moves onto the UCHC Semifinals, which will be played on Saturday, February 26.