The UD Blue Hens brought back a huge sweep their first weekend home since last semester! The team faced the Liberty University Flames on Friday and Saturday night and topped off the weekend playing University of Alabama on Sunday. After a difficult past two weekends, the boys were happy to be back on their own ice to bring back not just one win, but three!
Friday night’s starting line included #12 John Redgate, #28 Cole Zucker, #21 Michael Redgate, #5 Justin Hoch, #23 Devin Jenny and #29 Dylan Troiano in the net. Delaware took the lead when Zucker scored a shorthanded goal with 11 minutes to go in the first. The second period started with Delaware in the lead 1-0 against Liberty. Captain John Redgate scored his first goal of the night at 15:43 off an assist from Zucker and Mullin, raising the score 2-0 UD. Moving into the third period, the game got chippy as Liberty fought to pick up the score. At 18:53, Redgate slipped in his second goal of the night on an empty netter with an assist from Zucker. The final was 3-0, a shutout for Troiano and for UD. I spoke with Max Freeman about his thoughts on the game and what it felt like to be back on their home rink to which he responded, “We started it flat but played a simple game. Dylan [Troiano] stood on his head and it worked out in our favor. It felt good to get back in the win column.” Mullin agreed, “We started off slow early on in the game, but we got our legs under us and played our game. Zucker and Redgate got us going on the scoreboard and Dylan played well, as always, and got a shutout.”
Saturday night during our Cub Scouts game, emotions were high and Liberty was fighting for the win, but they couldn’t stand against the Blue Hens. The starting line was #22 Michael Nisky, #39 Vinny Zingarelli, #15 Shane Mullin, #20 Ian Anderson, #24 Michael Zidansek and #29 Dylan Troiano. In the first period, Zingarelli was on fire, scoring two goals. The first goal was assisted by Zidansek and the second by Jenny and Nisky. Liberty tried to get themselves back in the game, scoring two goals and tying the game at 2-2 before the end of the first. The second period, Zucker capitalized off an assist from Pierce Lamberton for his first goal of the night. Liberty tied the board with one more in the net but couldn’t keep up with the Blue Hens. Delaware heated up the game by scoring five more goals in the second. Zucker scored his second goal of the night unassisted, followed by Ian Anderson off an assist from M. Redgate. A play from Troiano and Nisky allowed Shane Mullin to put one on the board, and not too long after, Dean Disimone scored his first career goal with an assist from Zidansek. Mullin scored his second of the game thanks to an assist from J. Redgate and Zucker, ending the second with a score of 8-3. Liberty tried to even the score in the third, scoring two more goals, but could not tie the board in time. The final score was 8-5 Blue Hens. Zidansek, after the game, let me know how it felt to play Liberty again, “It was great to get a sweep against a league opponent. We needed two wins this weekend and we got them, but we still have more work to do.” Mike Redgate contributed, “It was a great game all around. There were a few people who got their first goals,” referring to Disimone’s goal and Ian Anderson’s first goal of the season, “It was amazing to see the whole team contribute to such a solid win.”
Coming off a high from their previous wins of the weekend, the Blue Hens were unstoppable on Sunday’s game against Alabama. The starting line up was #22 Mike Nisky, #39 Vinny Zingarelli, #15 Shane Mullin, #20 Ian Anderson, #24 Michael Zidansek and #30 Stephen East in the net. The first period set a concerning tone as Alabama scored the first goal, but Delaware was not deterred. Zucker scored a goal with an assist from Anderson, tying the score 1-1 but the team didn’t stop there. Mullin scored an impressive power play goal, unassisted. Lamberton set up Chris Mazzella for another shot at the net. Cole Zucker made an unassisted goal followed by another, completing his hat trick and his sixth goal of the weekend. Zucker commented on his goals saying “It’s always nice getting a hat-trick but more importantly it was a big win for us. Coming into winter session we struggled the first two weekends so winning all three games this weekend was huge for us.” The final score against Alabama was 5-1, a Delaware win. After the game, I caught up with goalie Stephen East. Upon being asked what it felt like to let that first goal in, he responded, “I put it in the past and focused on the current play at hand. I had faith that my team would continue to play the way they always do, and in the end we got the job done.” I continued to ask him how he stayed strong throughout the rest of the game. East said, “I remained cool, calm, collected and most importantly, I trusted in my team.” Next weekend, the boys play at their home rink. Zucker commented, “This upcoming weekend we play URI, which is a must win, and I think as a team we have our confidence back which will help us get another sweep.”
Join us this upcoming weekend to watch your team at the Fred Rust Arena on February 4th at 5:15 for our B+ Foundation game against the University of Rhode Island! The game proceeds go to the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation. Learn more about the B+ Foundation at www.bepositive.org. You can donate to the team’s UDance page here: https://www.udancede.org/bpos_teampage.aspx?eventtag=ud2017&teamid=581
Also, don’t forget to stay tuned for this weekend’s Alumni games! Come to the Gold Arena for the Old Timer’s Alumni Game at 1:00pm and the Young Guns Alumni Game at 3:15pm on Saturday, February 4. For any additional questions or information contact leahedel@udel.edu.
Twitter: @udhockey
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Facebook: University of Delaware Men’s Division 1 Ice Hockey
Written by: Daniella Fioretti
