The Hens had a successful weekend on the road! They earned themselves a sweep up in Rhode Island to the #24 Rams. The team won in regulation on Friday night, and had an overtime win on Saturday. The starting lineups for both games this weekend were John Redgate, Cole Zucker, Dustin Rabinowitz as the forwards, Jakob DeFares and Justin Hoch on defense, and Dylan Troiano in goal.
After the long hike to New England, puck dropped at 7 at URI. Playing a rival team, the Hens came out ready to fight hard and play with high intensity. They were in an offensive mindset, and were the first to put one up on the board. Rabinowitz found the back of their net with just over 12 minutes left in the first off of an assist from Zucker. That helped them fuel their momentum for the rest of the game. However, the team was unsuccessful on the penalty kill and the Rams scored their first goal of the night to tie up the game. The teams kept up with each other’s play. With just under three minutes left in the period, Zucker put the Hens in the lead off of an assist from Redgate. The final score for the period was 2-3, UD.
With the second period underway, the Hens needed to keep their lead. At the end of the first, a Delaware player went to the box, so they started the period on the penalty kill. Delaware found success, and continued to play strong. URI went on the penalty kill, and UD’s very own Michael Nisky put the team back in the lead off of an assist from DeFares. The Rams responded over the next ten minutes, and scored two more goals to tie up the game. Delaware sent a man to the box, but they found success on the penalty kill. Vinny Zingarelli found the back of Rhode Island’s net off of an assist from Pierce Lamberton and Max Freeman. At the end of the period, UD took a five minute major, so they went on the PK. The score of the period was 4-3, Delaware.
Going into the third on the kill, Delaware needed to play strong defensively. The team continued their success on passing and communication. They kept taking advantage of opportunities in front of the net, and in the last half of the period, Nisky scored his second goal of the night off of an assist from Max Freeman and Mike Zidansek. With five minute of play left, URI sent two players to the box. On the power play, Shane Mullin scored the sixth Blue Hen goal of the night off of an assist from Zingarelli and Hoch. The final score of the game was 6-3, UD!
After the game, I caught up with Drew Torrey. He said, “We started off the game slow. The bus legs were a factor in the first period, but we came out strong in the second to get the win. Going into tomorrow’s game, we know that URI will come out strong and physical, so we have to match their intensity.”
Saturday afternoon puck drop was at 4:00, and the team was hungry for a sweep. The Hens got off to a good start, and scored the first goal of the night with fourteen minutes left on the clock. The goal was scored by John Redgate from Cole Zucker and Kevin Felice. Seconds later, the Rams tied it up. Throughout the next minutes of play, there were a few penalties called on Delaware. On the second penalty, URI took the lead. There were a few more penalties drawn on both teams until the end of the period, and the score going into the second was 2-1, Rams. The teams matched penalties for the good part of the second period. The Hens couldn’t seem to find their momentum, and the Rams scored again with just under three minutes left in the second. The score going into the third was 3-1, Rhode Island.
In the third the team needed to pick up the pace and play with intensity. Just over a minute into the period, Freeman found the Rams’ net off of a pass from Redgate. There were a few penalties called on the Hens, but they were successful on the penalty kills. With eight minutes of play left, DeFares tied up the game off of an assist from Redgate and Zucker! The Blue Hens were back in it. They used their skills to keep up their new found energy. Just under three minutes of play left, and Pierce Lamberton put the team in the lead off of an assist from Mullin and Zucker. However, the Rams responded nearly twenty seconds later tying up the game. The period was about over when URI got a penalty called on the, and teams went into overtime. Halfway through OT, Troiano made a huge save that prevented the Rams from winning. With the thought of having to go to a shootout being in mind, the Hens picked up their play just a little bit. Justin Hoch scored the game winning, overtime goal with under a minute left off of an assist from Zucker! The final score of the game was 5-4, Delaware!
After completing the sweep, I reached out to Vinny Zingarelli and Jakob DeFares for some words on the game. “We battled really hard to come back to win, and hopefully we can carry that momentum to West Chester,” said Vinny. Jakob added, “We came out flat with no energy and pretty much got dominated in the first and second period. During the second intermission, the team knew what we had to do, and focused up to get the job done.”
This weekend is Homecoming here at the University of Delaware. The team hopes all alumni will enjoy their weekend around Newark! The Hens will be matching up against West Chester University on Friday night at 6:00 at the Rust. DeFares also noted, “This weekend we just need to pull a full sixty minutes of hockey because we know not many teams can stick with our speed and skill. Going into this weekend, we know what we have to do and want to get these two wins. We also want to enjoy our homecoming weekend.” As always keep up with our social media pages, and hope to see everyone out at the game.
Twitter: @udhockey
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Facebook: University of Delaware Men’s Division 1 Ice Hockey
Written By: Analisa Vizzoni
