Written By: Analisa Vizzoni
The Blue Hens put up a good fight this weekend, but fell both games to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Rutgers, ranked #40 in the league, came in ready to play, and gave us a run for our money.
At the drop of the puck on Friday night, Rutgers was in offensive mode. They had a few shots on goal, that goalie, Dylan Troiano, was able to block. As the period went on, possession of the puck was pretty equally distributed between the two teams. Delaware had a few shots, but they were denied at the net. At the end of the first period, the score was 0-0 with Delaware having 6 shots on goal and Rutgers 11. It was a very fast paced first 20 minutes.
The second period was 20 minutes full of rough play from both teams. With 16 minutes and 42 seconds left on the clock, Rutgers scored the first goal of the night after putting a lot of pressure in front of our net. There was a penalty called on Rutgers, which put the Blue Hens in a power play. We had a few shots, but all were blocked. About halfway through the period, Rutgers scored again, making the score 2-0. There was a lot of rough play in front of both nets. Rutgers scored for a third time. The period ended with the score 3-0 Rutgers, and the Blue Hens were frustrated.
With the third period underway, Delaware needed a few goals to come back in the game. With 10 minutes and 55 seconds left on the clock, Rutgers scored their fourth goal of the night. We had a few shots on goal during a power play, but all were denied at the net. The clock read 5 minutes and 53 seconds left in the game, and Rutgers scored their fifth and final goal of the night. The game ended in a 5-0 shutout, with Rutgers taking the win.
After the game, I was able to talk to senior, Dan Going. When asked what the team will do differently tomorrow, he said, “We will minimize penalties, keep our composure, have more patience with the puck, make smarter plays, take the body right from the first shift, take more quality shots, make sure the other team doesn’t block our shots, and overall play a good team game and a good 60 minutes of hockey.” Friday night was Greek Night at the Fred Rust Arena. All the fraternities and sororities on campus had members out at the game. The stands were filled with students, and the hockey team loved it. Freshman, Justin Hoch, said, “It was great to know kids will give time away from their Friday nights to come support us. Next time, we hope to give you guys a little something better to watch.”
The puck dropped at 3:30 on Saturday at Pro Skate in New Jersey. UD came in ready to play, and it was proven when Matt Margolis scored the first goal of the afternoon with 17 minutes and 2 seconds left on the clock! The intensity was high, and Rutgers responded less than two minutes after the Blue Hen goal tying the game 1-1. Throughout the period, there were a lot of shots on goal from both teams. Delaware was in an offensive mindset, and senior, Mike Conte scored a beautiful goal with 5 minutes and 7 seconds left in the first period. The score of the first period was 2-1, UD in the lead!
Coming into the second period there was a lot of movement of the puck from both teams. With 16 minutes and 2 seconds left on the clock, Rutgers scored their second goal of the night tying up the game 2-2. Not even a minute later, Rutgers scored another two goals, making the score of the game 4-2. Taking a lot of shots on goal, UD’s Justin Hoch was finally able to put one in the net with 12 minutes and 14 seconds left on the clock off a shot from his defensive partner Nick Ustaski, making the score of the game 4-3! The second period was dominated by officiating and UD spent about half the period either short handed or on the powerplay.
In the third period, the Blue Hens came out ready to put up their final fight to make a comeback. However, with 12 minutes and 38 seconds left on the clock, Rutgers scored their fifth goal of the night. There was a lot of rough play throughout the third period, and with 8 minutes and 31 seconds left, Rutgers scored again, making the score 6-3. After playing in a defensive mindset for a while, UD’s offense finally got up to Rutgers’ net. Cole Zucker scored the fourth Delaware goal of the night with 2 minutes and 18 seconds left on the clock. For about the last minute and a half of play, UD pulled goalie, Patrick Rochefort, in hopes of having an offensive advantage over Rutgers. With Rochefort out of the net, Rutgers scored their last goal with 36 seconds left in the game. The final score of the game was 7-4 Rutgers.
After putting up a good fight on Saturday, I was able to talk to a few players. Comparing Saturday’s game to Friday’s game, Cole Zucker said, “We tried to stay out of the box, and play real Delaware hockey, which I think we did for the first half of the game.” With hopes for better results next weekend, Drew Torrey said that they will work to “win the small battles.”
This coming weekend the Blue Hens will be taking on Syracuse in New York both Friday and Saturday. Be sure to follow the game by following @UDHockey on Twitter, and by liking University of Delaware Division 1 Men’s Ice Hockey on Facebook! UD will be back home on Friday, October 23rd at 7:00 p.m. for our Military Night as we take on West Chester University!
