The Hens came out with their third sweep of the season after playing the US Naval Academy Midshipmen this weekend! Friday night, the teams played at the Fred Rust Ice Arena with a puck drop at 6:15. The team celebrated parents’ weekend by thanking their parents for all of their support during the game. Saturday, the team traveled to Annapolis, and came out with a win after the 7:30 puck drop.
The starting lineup for Friday night’s home game was John Redgate, Michael Nisky, and Michael Redgate as the forwards, Jakob DeFares and Justin Hoch on defense, and Dylan Troiano in the net. The Hens came out a little slow in the first. The team had 14 shots on goal throughout the period, but couldn’t seem to find the back of the net. They came out strong on their forward lines, and stayed in control of the puck for the majority of the period. The clock ran out, and there was no score on the board for either team.
Delaware started the second period on the power play, and Shane Mullin scored the first goal of the night not even a minute in off of an assist from Vinny Zingarelli. After that, the team got the burst of energy that they needed to succeed. They worked the puck well, and had good communication. They were successful on their penalty kills, and they stayed strong in the defensive zone. Back on the power play, with just under two minutes left, John Redgate found the back of the net off of an assist from Ian Anderson and Dustin Rabinowitz. The second period ended, and the score was 2-0, UD.
With the third underway, Navy started the period with a two minute bench minor, and put the Hens on the power play. Cole Zucker took advantage of Navy’s one man deficit, and scored off of an assist from Hoch and Zingarelli. The Midshipmen put pressure on our defense and goalie, but the team held their ground. Troiano made some incredible saves, and the team was able to come out with a shutout.
At the end of the game, some of the players shared their thoughts with me. Corey Leskanic said, “We played hard, but sometimes we played down to their level. Tomorrow we are going to have to play harder, but overall, it was a good game.” Freshman, defenseman, Michael Patterson said, “It was a pretty solid game. We were a little sloppy in the second period, but we battled through it. We kept the puck out of the net and got the job done. We just have to come back out tomorrow, and complete the sweep.” In regards to changing things for Saturday’s game, Max Freeman said, “We need to have a quick start, use our speed to our advantage, and take the body.”
Saturday night, the team traveled down to the John McMullen Ice Arena for the final game of the series. The starting lineup for Delaware was Zingarelli, Zucker and Mullin as forwards, DeFares and Hoch on defense, and Stephen East in goal. With the first period underway, the Hens were in an offensive mindset and were hungry for the sweep. The teams matched penalties and shots on goal for the majority of the period. However, UD found the back of the net first, and it was scored by Pierce Lamberton off of an assist from Mullin and Zucker with four minutes left on the clock.
At the start of the second, Navy came out eager to put one on the board. The Midshipmen scored not even two minutes in, evening up the game. They scored again with sixteen minutes on the clock, taking the lead. The Hens kicked into gear, and started to play with more intensity. They began to work the puck better, and it started to work in their favor. John Redgate evened up the game with just over three minutes left of play in the second off of an assist from Andrew Corapi. With a Navy player in the box, Delaware cashed in on the power play. Zucker scored off of an assist from Zingarelli, and put the Hens in the lead. The period ended, and the score was 3-2, UD. The third period was all about keeping their lead. The team maintained a strong defense, and there were many great saves made by East. Delaware found success on the penalty kill. With a few minutes left in the game, Jakob DeFares scored his first goal of the season off of an assist from Nisky and M. Redgate! Navy pulled their goalie, and Lamberton scored on an empty net off of an assist from Zucker, making the final score of the game 5-2.
After the game, Devin Jenny, a freshman defenseman, said, “Overall, we definitely didn’t play our best game. East made some huge saves for us, especially at the end of the game. We were able to find a way to win, which is what matters in the end.” Andrew Corapi said, “Regardless of the rankings, Navy is a hard working team who is difficult to play against. Their physical play made it a challenging weekend. We found a way to get the puck in the net when we needed to, and walk out of the weekend with two big wins. We’re looking forward to getting prepared for Rutgers this week.”
The Blue Hens are back home on Friday night to take on the Rutgers Ice Knights at 7:00. Ian Anderson said, “Games against Rutgers are some of the toughest games we play. Every game against them is a battle from shift to shift, you can never take one off or they will make you pay for it. We have played real well 5 on 5 hockey so far this year, so we are looking to stay out of the penalty box against them. To prepare we are going to do the same as we do for every other team with good practices all week.” UD Hockey is also going Greek this weekend, and would like to invite all Greek organizations on campus to come to their game. It will count as a CAP point, so make sure you come on out to support the team, and be sure to follow all of our social media pages for updates!
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Written By: Analisa Vizzoni
