On the Fly
Thursday, October 28
Connecticut 3 at Union 3 (ot)
Plain and simple, the Dutchmen blew their perfect home record (now 4-0-1). Union held a 3-0 lead with 31 minutes to play, but first-time freshman starter Troy Grosenick was beaten for three goals on 10 shots in the second frame and that was all she wrote for the scoring. Union out-shot the Huskies 41-22 – including 15-4 in the first period – and got goals from freshman Daniel Carr (four) and sophs Kyle Bodie (his first) and Jeremy Welsh (six).
Friday, October 29
Dartmouth 2 vs. Princeton 1 (Ivy Shootout; New Haven, Conn.)
Junior Paul Lee broke a 1-1 stalemate four minutes into the third period, boosting the Big Green past the Tigers in the opening game of the Ivy League season. Senior Evan Stephens also scored for Dartmouth, which got a strong 21-save performance out of junior goalie Jody O’Neill as well. Senior Matt Arhontas scored Princeton’s lone goal on the power play, and rookie Sean Bonar stopped 27 of 29 in defeat.
New Hampshire 7 at Cornell 4
Two third-period power-play goals weren’t enough to rescue the Big Red, who found themselves blistered by UNH for the second time in a row – the last occasion occurring last spring in the NCAA East Regional in Albany. What had been a 2-2 game early in the second stanza turned into a blowout with four consecutive Wildcat goals, chasing third-year goalie Mike Garman after six goals on 23 shots. Frosh Dustin Mowrey paced Cornell with his first two goals, and sophomores Nick D’Agostino and John Esposito also lit the lamp for the home side. Rookie Andy Iles stopped all seven shots he faced in relief.
Brown 4 at Yale 7 (Ivy Shootout)
Brown nearly made a strong statement in a barn-burner at the Whale, but even four power-play goals (in nine advantages) weren’t enough to keep up with the Bulldogs and senior Denny Kearney. The big Blue sniper got a hat trick plus an assist in each team’s season-opener, and Yale also scored by the sticks of juniors Brian O’Neill (twice), Kevin Peel, and senior Broc Little. The Bears jumped out to a 3-1 lead on Yale and sophomore goalie Jeff Malcolm (16 saves), but the Elis nearly bounced Brown right back out of the building with five straight scores on junior goalie Mike Clemente (33 saves). Frosh David Robertson scored twice for Brown, as did junior Jeff Buvinow and senior Harry Zolnierczyk; junior Jack Maclellan earned three assists in the loss.
Quinnipiac 4 at St. Cloud State 2
The Bobcats saved the best for last, stamping three goals onto the scoresheet in the game’s final 11 minutes to down St. Cloud. Sophomore Ben Arnt (first of the year) scored QU’s lone first-period goal despite 16 shots on net, and the Huskies took the lead with one goal late in the first and another in the mid-second. The Bobcats were held to a solitary second-period shot, and took six penalties in the game’s first 40 minutes. But then in the third, sophomore Bobby Tyson (one) evened things up, and juniors Spencer Heichman (three) and Yuri Bouharevich (one) put the game away. Soph Eric Hartzell saved 21 shots.
Saturday, October 30
Rensselaer 3 vs. Union 3 (ot, Halloween Faceoff; Lake Placid, N.Y.)
In a position reminiscent of Thursday night, Union surrendered a two-goal lead with fewer than 25 minutes to play in settling for the draw with RPI. Unlike Thursday, the Dutchmen were forced to score their own late goal – the first of rookie Mat Bodie’s collegiate career – with 30 ticks left to salvage the tie. UC opened with scores by soph Greg Coburn (two) and senior Adam Presizniuk (five), before the Engineers bested Union sophomore goalie Keith Kinkaid three times in 15:30, getting goals from senior Tyler Helfrich (four) and sophomores Nick Bailen and C.J. Lee (two each). Kinkaid finished with 25 saves, while junior Allen York stopped 17. Union went two-for-three on the power play, giving them at least one PPG in each of their first eight games.
Brown 2 vs. Princeton 1 (Ivy Shootout; New Haven, Conn.)
For the second day in a row, Arhontas’ goal was the only production Princeton could muster in the Ivy Shootout. Maclellan and senior Jesse Fratkin scored for Bruno, and freshman Marco DeFillipo (28 saves) out-dueled soph counterpart Mike Condon (21) for the win. Up 2-1, Brown dodged a late bullet as Maclellan was shown the door for hitting-from-behind with 5:47 to play… but the Tigers were unable to convert.
Sacred Heart 0 at Colgate 5
The Raiders got their first shutout and five-goal game at the same time Saturday, slamming SHU with 55 shots and going two-for-eight on the power play in Colgate’s home opener. Third-year Corbin McPherson scored his first two goals of the year, classmate Nick Prockow (one) potted his first of 2010-11, and sophomores Robbie Bourdon (two) and Billy Rivellini (one) each slipped one into the net as well. Junior Alex Evin made 21 saves for his first career clean-sheet.
Dartmouth 3 at Yale 7 (Ivy Shootout)
It seems the highly touted Bulldogs have hit the floor running, scoring a touchdown (plus the extra point) for the second time in as many games. Dartmouth held 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but Yale lit the lamp six times straight to run away with the W. Kearney, Little, and O’Neill (with two goals) scored again – Little’s goal came by penalty shot – and welcomed junior Kevin Limbert (two goals as well) and frosh Clinton Bourbonais to the club. Senior Ryan Rondeau made 23 saves. Freshman Matt Lindblad, soph Jason Bourgea and senior Scott Fleming scored for the Big Green, and Jody O’Neill stopped 32 of 39.
RIT 5 at Cornell 3
Despite coming back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits, a third equalizer proved too much to ask of Cornell in their first 0-2-0 home-opening weekend in 17 years. Rookie Rodger Craig, soph Greg Miller and senior Tyler Roeszler scored for the Red, but Ithaca-native Iles was burned for four goals on 22 shots in his first career start.
Clarkson 2 vs. St. Lawrence 1 (ot, Halloween Faceoff; Lake Placid, N.Y.)
Rookie Matt Zarbo scored his second goal of his NCAA career 2:36 into extra time to vault Clarkson past arch-rival St. Lawrence in the historic 1980 Olympic Rink. Junior Jake Morley (three) opened the scoring in the second period, but junior Max Mobley (two) evened the score before the period was out. Frosh Matt Weninger made 21 hard-luck saves for the Saints, while ‘Tech counterpart stopped 34 – including 13 of 14 in Period 2. The result extended SLU’s misery to seven games, as the Saints (0-4-3) once again failed to put one in the win column. The game also extended the Golden Knights’ frustration, though, as neither team tallied on the power play… putting Clarkson at a rather round 0-33 for the campaign.
Quinnipiac 2 at St. Cloud State 5
SCSU got one back in Round 2, scoring twice in the first period and thrice in the third to fight off the Bobcats. Quinnipiac clawed back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to tie, but penalties bit the ‘Cats again as the Huskies drew nine power plays, scoring two PPG’s for the second night in a row. Rookie Kellen Jones (three) and second-year Jeremy Langlois (one) scored for the Bobcats; Dan Clarke made 21 saves in the loss.
In retrospect..
Prediction precision: 7-3-2 (.667) last week, 20-7-5 (.703) overall.
As for my guests, Mr. Matthew Desmarais went 6-4-1 (.591, and I didn’t include their Union-UConn picks as the entry was published Friday), with his undoing being the “shot-in-the-dark” pick of Princeton over Brown. Midwestern representative Mike Shavlik went 5-3-2 (.600), and I didn’t include his pick for Brown vs. Dartmouth… since there didn’t end up being a Brown-Dartmouth game.
In other words, I win. Who’s my next victim?
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