If this week is any indication of some of the drama we have in front of us for the next few months, then get ready for nonstop and heart-racing action right to the final whistles of regulation and beyond. This weekend produced extra-attacker goals, overtime thrillers, amazing comebacks, and new rivalries in the making. Here is a breakdown of some of the terrific action from the weekend.
CCC
Curry saw its offense get on track with an 11-3 win over Becker. The Colonels were led by Jake Heisinger’s five points and a total of 16 players recorded a point in the runaway win. On Saturday, four different goal scorers contributed a 4-1 conference win over Western New England.
Salve Regina remained unbeaten in conference play with two wins over key competitors. On Thursday night, the Seahawks downed Endicott in a rematch of last year’s conference title game by a 4-2 score. On Saturday, Salve Regina saw themselves trailing by a 3-1 score entering the third period before scoring three unanswered goals to take the lead over UNE. The Nor’easters then scored with just 15 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime, where Joseph Yeadon scored his first of the season in overtime for the win.
ECAC West
Hobart fell from the ranks of the unbeaten as Matt Lippa scored two goals in leading Manhattanville to its first conference win of the season by a 5-3 score.
In what is surely an early-season nominee for game of the year, the Neumann Knights rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third period to take an overtime win against Elmira on Friday night. Neumann recorded third-period goals from Shane Topf, Ryan Luitken, and an extra-attacker-goal from Jake Davidson with just one second remaining on the clock to setup sending the home fans happy after Lauri Viitanen’s overtime winner.
MASCAC
Plymouth State and Salem State played the first head-to-head game on the schedule in what figures to be the key games in determining playoff seeding at the top, and the matchup did not disappoint. The Panthers came out firing on all cylinders, chasing the Vikings’ goalie, Marcus Zelzer, in the first period and building a 5-0 lead in the first 14 minutes of the game, but that is when things became really interesting.
Salem State rallied with five unanswered special teams’ goals, including four on the power play and a short-handed goal from Eric Rorzenski, to force the game to overtime, where Plymouth State took the win on a goal from Tim Larocque to earn the crucial two points in the standings.
The overtime win was PSU’s second of the week, as they needed Ryan Stevens’ extra-session goal on Thursday to down Massachusetts-Dartmouth by a 5-4 score.
NEHC
While Babson and Norwich both took a pair of conference wins, the Beacons of Massachusetts-Boston were upset by Skidmore on Saturday afternoon in a playoff-atmosphere game. The Thoroughbreds had lost a one-goal game to Babson the night before and were down early to the second-ranked Beacons, but rallied behind a hat trick by senior Anthony Bird and 43 saves from goalie Brandon Kasel to upset the previously unbeaten host team. Skidmore overcame two one-goal deficits to earn the win on a short-handed goal by Bird late in the third period.
SUNYAC
Oswego remained unbeaten on the season with a 4-1 win over Cortland on Friday night. The Lakers fell behind 1-0 in the first period, but leveled the score in the final minute on a goal by Shawn Hulshof. Oswego then added three more unanswered goals from Kenny Neil, Chris Raguseo, and Michael Herlihey to support David Jacobson, who made 28 saves in the win.
Elsewhere, Buffalo State took a key home win over Plattsburgh by a 4-1 score led by two goals from Taylor Pryce.
In nonconference action, Geneseo took a win and a tie from Canton, where the two-game series produced a total of 25 goals between the two teams. Friday night ended in a 6-6 overtime tie before the Knights took the weekend finale 8-5 behind four points each from Anthony Marra and Stephen Collins.
Three Biscuits
Anthony Bird — Skidmore: The Thoroughbred forward scored a hat trick in leading Skidmore to a come-from-behind, road win over second ranked Massachusetts-Boston on Saturday. Two of the three goals by Bird were of the short-handed variety, including the game-winning goal and an empty-net insurance tally to close out the scoring.
Trevor & Brady Fleurent — University of New England: Tallied 10 points between them in last week’s 6-4 conference win over Nichols. Trevor posted a hat trick while adding two assists and brother Brady added two goals and three assists in the 6-4 win on Thursday night.
Chris Moquin – Southern New Hampshire University: The Penmen right wing scored a hat trick in an 8-4 win over Daniel Webster, including the game-winning goal in the third period. The three goals were Moquin’s first tallies of the season and equaled his total from his freshman campaign last year.
It takes the full 60 minutes and sometimes longer to earn the result a team and coach are looking for. This weekend clearly showed every second counts and the battles for points in the standings and nonconference “W’s” are going to be hard fought to the bitter end.
