In October and November, Trinity was not playing particularly good hockey despite the return of an experienced roster and great expectations for their success on the ice. Since returning to the ice after the semester break and the calendar turning to the New Year, the Bantams have found their game going unbeaten in their last nine games in January moving to the top of the league standings. The team is playing up to expectations and focus on playing the game the right way through the remainder of the NESCAC schedule and into the conference tournament.
“We weren’t a very good hockey team in the fall,” stated head coach Matt Greason. “I think everyone thought we had so much returning that we would just go out and play and get the results we were expecting. I think the team has figured out that the important stuff does not show up on the score sheet and when we started playing a more selfless game, we started seeing the results we wanted. It really comes down to three key areas for us: better decisions with and without the puck; minimizing time in our defensive zone and really reducing or eliminating odd-man rushes that we saw one or two a period earlier in the year. It doesn’t always have to be perfect, sometimes getting the puck into the neutral zone and turning on the forecheck can be more effective than waiting for the perfect one pass breakout.”
One line has emerged as a key group in the Bantams resurgence and Gerrard Maretta (12-5-17) specifically has found his game while doing all the things his coach expects to see while getting results that do show up on the scoresheet including last Saturday’s hat trick in a 4-0 win over Amherst that moved Trinity into first place.
“Gerrard always does everything the right way,” noted Greason. “Whether it is on the ice, in the weight room or on campus, I never question his commitment, desire and lack of taking any shortcuts. He was a little slow in getting his game going but the combination of him playing with Kyle Tomaso and Paul Selleck has been very good for him and the team. Gerrard is a big player and makes the game difficult for opposing teams with his size, speed and skill. He can make other players just bounce off him and get to the areas where the puck is for scoring opportunities. It is great to see the goals coming his way and we certainly want to see that line continue its recent success.”
On the other end of the ice a first-year player has emerged as the No. 1 goaltender for the Bantams. Devon Bobek has played a dozen games with Trinity posting a miniscule 1.32 goals-against average, a.939 save percentage, a 9-2-1 record and four shutouts.
“Devon is both big and athletic which you don’t always see in goaltenders at the D-III level,” noted Greason. “We have two very good goaltenders here. JP Mella gave up one goal in the entire NESCAC tournament last spring, so we know how good he is. Devon has just come in and played exceptionally well and also has benefited from our better team defense in the past month or so. It’s exciting to see a first-year players performing so well. We have been good this month but we are going to need everyone to stay focused on the important things as we finish up the regular season schedule over the next three weeks and get ready for the conference tournament.”
This weekend the Bantams host Williams and Middlebury before road games with Colby and Bowdoin. Trinity closes out the regular season with a home-and-home series with travel partner Wesleyan looking to maintain the position in the standings they have worked so hard to attain.
“In this league you don’t get points just for showing up,” said Greason. “I think top to bottom you can go through this conference and not know whether you are going to win or lose. I do know if you don’t play well, you will get beat. We are playing well right now but have a tough stretch to finish the regular season and will stay focused on what has turned our game around in the New Year.”
