After their first game of the season did not go quite their way, the Blue Hens hoped to rebound in a big way. They traveled to Navy and in the words of new head coach Rocco Romanella, “found their identity.” If their identity is winning like they did against Navy, the Blue Hens will enjoy this season.
Right from the start, the Blue Hens were in better form than in their previous game. The Blue Hens forced a turnover in their own zone that led to a rush. Max Freeman took the puck to the net and scored the early goal. The Blue Hens fore check led to another goal, this one by Joe Bastone and jumped out to the 2-0 lead.
Navy would retaliate, by scoring off a turnover. But just when it seemed the Blue Hens could be losing momentum, they went right back on the attack. Matthew Santucci got a goal, and with it made it a 3-1 game.
The second period was surprisingly low scoring. Thanks to the two-goal lead, the Blue Hens could dig in on defense and force Navy to come to them. The only goal of the period was scored when Mullin sniped a shot from the circle that managed to find its way to the net. The Blue Hens carried the 4-1 lead into the third period.
The Blue Hens had what was quite possibly the best period of the season so far. Four goals were scored; two of them by their young first line. The entire Blue Hen first line, Freeman Zucker and Redgate, started a 3-2 rush as they entered the offensive zone. Redgate handled the puck and found a trailing Zucker. Zucker buried the shot and the Blue Hens were at this point leading 7-1. Redgate then won a battle in the offensive zone and scored a goal of his own to extend the lead to 8-1. The score would stay the same the rest of the way and the Blue Hens would win their first game in fantastic fashion.
Coach Romanella was very pleased with the way his team played, especially in the third period. The Blue Hens scored four goals in a game even though they already held the 4-1 lead. When asked about the strong third period, Coach Romanella stated, “if we could play 60 minutes like that every game, we’ll be tough to beat.”
By: Tyler Fitzpatrick
