A great weekend is coming to the Fred Rust Arena! Your #17 Delaware Blue Hens are scheduled to take on the unranked University of Rhode Island Rams. Currently the Blue Hens sit atop the ESCHL while the Rams sit 2 points back.
Delaware got back to their winning ways this past weekend with a sweep of Liberty University and a win over the Alabama Crimson Tide. The three wins this past weekend put Delaware’s record up to 22-9 on the season.
When these two teams met earlier in the season on Rhode Island’s home ice, the Blue Hens came out with two wins. This is something that this streaking Delaware team is trying to do this weekend.
Delaware is 11-2 at home this season, and this week is Alumni weekend AND our UDance B+ game. Needless to say, the Rust is going to be rockin’. The Blue Hens need to take advantage of this and use that energy to attack Rhode Island, hard and early.
However, penalties continue to be the Achilles’ Heel of this team and must be addressed to ensure that this game goes their way. While high energy is a must, controlled energy is also important.
Player to watch this weekend is going to be one who is looking to continue his hot streak. Zucker has 6 goals in his past 3 games, including a hat-trick on Sunday against Alabama. Zuck has been a force on offense and nuisance on defense for the entire season, and if this continues, the Blue Hens have a great chance to bring out the brooms once again.
The first match up in this series will take place on Friday at 9:15PM, with the second on Saturday at 5:15PM. Saturday brings about many festivities, including the Old Timers and Young Guns Alumni games. The Old Timers Alumni Game will take place 1:30-3:00PM in the Gold Arena (located behind the Rust), and the Young Guns Alumni Game will take place 3:15-4:45PM in the Rust. Then, during the URI game, UD Hockey will be holding our UDance and B+ Foundation game. Please come out and support the B+ Foundation and the Blue Hens! There will be games, raffles, prizes, and more! All proceeds collected at the game will benefit The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation (http://bepositive.org), which raises money to aid families affected by pediatric cancer and fund breakthrough cancer research. Our team will be participating in UDance on March 12, 2017 – UDance is an annual 12-hour dance marathon that fundraises for the B+ Foundation. Last year, the University of Delaware raised 1.7 million dollars for pediatric cancer! You can donate to our team’s UDance page at https://www.udancede.org/bpos_teampage.aspx?eventtag=ud2017&teamid=581&mode=. See you at the Rust this weekend!
Twitter: @udhockey
Instagram: @udicehockey
Facebook: University of Delaware Men’s Division 1 Ice Hockey
Written By: Matt Colaiacovo
