The Blue Hens went to face their rivals this past weekend, the Stony Brook Seawolves. Puck drop was Saturday at 8:30pm and Sunday 3:30pm at The Rinx in Stony Brook, New York. The team fought hard but fell to the Seawolves both games.
Saturday night started off with hope in the first period, but left the team playing catch up for most of the game. The Seawolves scored the first two goals, but the Blue Hens were able to even out the score before the end of the first period. 14:10 into the first, center Cole Zucker scored a goal with assists from Justin Hoch and Max Freeman. Less than fifteen seconds later, forward Vinny Zingarelli capitalized from an assist from Michael Nisky, tieing up the scoreboard. Early into the second, Stony Brook scored another goal taking the lead and managed to put three more past the team before the end of the second. The score was 6-2 going into the third period. “We got off to a bad start and we couldn’t stay out of the box,” Zingarelli commented after the game, “It’s tough to beat a team like Stony Brook when you’re chasing the lead the whole game.” The Seawolves scored three goals in the third, using a power play to their advantage against the Blue Hens. 13:43 into the third, forward Jakob DeFares was able to knock one in the net, unassisted, making the final score 9-3. After the game, I got to speak with DeFares about his thoughts on the game. “I think we let our emotions get to us. At the end of the day we beat ourselves and that’s why I think the loss stung more,” he shared.
Sunday, the team was hungry for a win. Stony Brook set the mood for the game with three goals in the first period. In the second, the Seawolves scored two goals. Zucker took advantage of an assist from John Redgate and Michael Redgate, scoring a goal. Going into the third, the score was 6-1 and goalie Christopher Ponticello replaced senior Dylan Troiano in the net. A minute into the third, Stony Brook put one on the board. There were 13 shots on goal by the Seawolves and Ponticello was able to make 12 saves. Forward Shane Mullin took the opportunity off an assist from J. Redgate and Zucker to strike back, bringing the final score to 7-2. Forward Andrew Corapi shared his thoughts on the game, “We knew we were going to have to play our best hockey to beat Stony Brook. It was a big game for us after our loss on Saturday. Unfortunately, penalties and the overall flow of the game did not go in our favor. Dylan always gives us a chance to win games, but we didn’t bring our best for him like we had hoped to.” Ponticello added, “We let these two games get away from us this weekend. We have the talent and the ability to play with and win big games like these, but we didn’t show it this weekend.” He admitted, “We didn’t capitalize on our opportunities and made too many defensive mistakes that left Troiano out to dry. The games were definitely very chippy, but we are two very competitive rivals so that factor of the game is almost inevitable when we play them. The refs made a lot of calls that didn’t really go our way which was very frustrating for us and we were unable to battle through it. There is a lot of passion on this team, and in the future we are going to have to use it to help us battle through adversity rather than letting our emotions get the best of us.”
The boys will be facing Liberty University and University of Alabama this upcoming weekend at their home rink, the Fred Rust Arena. When asked what they will do to prepare for the upcoming games, Corapi responded, “This week is going to be a lot of back to basics during practice. Our defensive zone coverage needs work and our power play can be more effective than it has been. We’re going to do our best to regroup mentally and physically, and hopefully get back on track against Liberty and Alabama. Most importantly, we want to play a team game this weekend, play Delaware hockey like it’s meant to be played: Hard, fast, and smart.”
Stay tuned for the upcoming Blue Hen promotional games such as Cub Scouts Night! This game is taking place this weekend on January 28th at 5:15 vs. Liberty University. Tickets are $3 for all Cub Scouts, friends, and family. To register for this game, contact Kaden@udel.edu by January 25th. For any additional questions or information contact leahedel@udel.edu.
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Written by: Daniella Fioretti
