The RIT Tigers got the season off to a flying start by winning both the Fredonia and Rochester Hockey Cup tournaments decisively. Manhattanville also got off to a good start this season, downing Lebanon Valley in its opener. But Hobart dropped a heartbreaker to Brockport and another to Geneseo, while Elmira opened up with a loss at Oswego for the second straight year.
Recent Results
10/17:
RIT 6 vs Oswego 3 Fredonia Tournament
10/18:
RIT 7 vs Fredonia 2 Fredonia Tournament
10/17:
RIT 8 vs Geneseo 4 Rochester Hockey Cup
Hobart 5 at Brockport 6 OT Rochester Hockey Cup
10/18:
Manhattanville 5 at Lebanon Valley 2
Hobart 1 at Geneseo 3 Rochester Hockey Cup
RIT 10 vs Brockport 1 Rochester Hockey Cup
Elmira 3 at Oswego 7
STANDINGS: LEAGUE || Overall || Home
GP W-L-T Pts GF-GA || GP W-L-T GF-GA || GP W-L-T
=====================||======================||===========
RIT 0 0-0-0 0 0-0 || 4 4-0-0 31-10 || 0 0-0-0
Manhattanville 0 0-0-0 0 0-0 || 1 1-0-0 5-2 || 0 0-0-0
Elmira 0 0-0-0 0 0-0 || 1 0-1-0 3-7 || 0 0-0-0
Hobart 0 0-0-0 0 0-0 || 2 0-2-0 6-9 || 0 0-0-0
Note: Standings listed in order of overall winning percentage until
league play starts.
Team-by-Team Report
RIT: Looks like the Tigers picked up this season where they left off last year, even with the same game strategy: fall behind early in the game, then come roaring back with a barrage of goals. In its opening game in the Fredonia tournement against Oswego, RIT got two penalties in the first 30 seconds of the game and Oswego converted the resulting power play for the 1-0 lead. But RIT scored two goals midway through each period to take the 6-3 win. Senior Pete Bournazakis had a four-point night with two goals and two assists.
The Tigers didn’t mess around in the championship game of the Fredonia tournament. Five different Tigers scored by midway through the second period for the commanding lead, and RIT went on to take the title with a 7-2 victory. Co-captain Jerry Galway notched the four-point night this game, with two goals and two assists of his own.
Geneseo jumped in front of the Tigers early in the opening game of the Rochester Hockey Cup — not a worry to the Tigers, though, who answered with seven straight goals. RIT took the third period off, allowing Geneseo to score three goals of its own, but the Tigers coasted to the 8-4 win to advance to the championship.
Same script, same result was the story of the championship of the Rochester Hockey Cup against Brockport. The Golden Eagles get a goal 4:21 in to the contest, and RIT scores ten straight to continue its romp through the SUNYAC in early-season tournaments. This is RIT’s second straight championship in the Rochester Hockey Cup. Tigers Tyler Euverman, Mike Bournazakis, and Josh Faulkner were all named to the All-Tourney team, and Galway earned tourney MVP honors with a three goal and four assist performance.
In a change from recent memory, RIT starts league play early in the season this year. Next up for the Tigers is hosting Manhattanville. RIT will be missing both Josh Faulkner and Jared Conlon for the game, who got DQ’s in the last game against Brockport.
MANHANTTANVILLE: The Valiants got off to a good start this season, defeating Lebanon Valley 5-2. Manhattanville ousthot Lebanon Valley 49-27, but its offensive advantage was tempered when the Valiants had to kill off nine man-down situations. Aaron Gauthier scored a shorthanded goal just 18 seconds in to the second period for the eventual game-winner, and Tommy Prate picked up where he left off last year, leading Manhattanville in scoring with one goal and one assist.
Manhattaville heads to RIT to begin league play this weekend. The Valiants came within a breath of upsetting the Tigers last year at RIT, and they will look to finish the job this time around.
ELMIRA: Flashback to October 28, 1999. Elmira traveled to Oswego for the first game of the season, and dropped a tough, physical game to the host Lakers 4-3. Forward to October 28, 2000, when Elmira traveled to Oswego to open the season once again. Exactly one year to the day apart, and yet the results were almost the same. Elmira and Oswego combined for 21 penalties this time around and once again Elmira dropped its season opener to Oswego, this time by a score of 7-3.
“It’s beginning to be an old habit of late,” remarked coach Glenn Thomaris. One bright spot for Thomaris was the offensive output of freshman Lawne Snyder, who tallied one goal and two assists.
“My captain (Steve Kaye) came up to me after the game and said we shouldn’t open at Oswego next year,” quipped Thomaris. “I told him that we are scheduled to open up on the road at UW-Stevens Point for a pair of games next season. But I’m not sure that will be any easier.”
Elmira’s schedule gets no easier this week. Wisconsin-Superior comes to town for two games. The Soaring Eagles will be looking to improve on the split they earned last year in Superior.
HOBART: The Statesmen played very opportunistic hockey for the first 20 minutes in its opening contest against Brockport. A shorthanded goal by Matt Pane just 49 seconds in to the contest got them rolling. Zach Mundy, Jeremy Toomey, and Tim McCarthy each added power-play goals, and all of the sudden Hobart was up 4-0 and rolling along.
A fan in the stands was overheard to say, “Maybe this really is a new beginning for Hobart.” Unfortunately for Hobart, Brockport righted the ship and started to win many of the one-on-one battles. A late third period goal by Brockport tied the game 5-5 and sent it in to overtime, where the Golden Eagles scored to take the contest away from Hobart, 6-5. Statesman Greg Reynholds finished the night with four assistants to lead Hobart.
Hobart didn’t fair much better against Geneseo in the consolation game of the Rochester Hockey Cup, losing 3-1. Matt Pane continued his hot play, scoring the lone Statesman goal in the third period.
“I thought we got better with each period in this game,” said coach Mark Taylor, “and I thought we played pretty well in the third period.”
Hobart plays its home opener on Tuesday against Cortland, and then stays at home to host Neumann over the weekend.
Upcoming Games
10/31:
Cortland at Hobart (7:30pm)
11/3:
Wisconsin-Superior at Elmira (7:30pm)
11/4:
Neumann at Hobart (4:00pm)
Manhattanville at RIT (7:30pm)
Wisconsin-Superior at Elmira (7:30pm)
Game of the Week
While some would say a league contest should automatically get picked for the game of the week, the best this week will probably be Elmira’s pair against Wisconsin-Superior. Two nationally-ranked teams meeting early in the season almost always portends a good game, but the rivalry that quickly developed last year between Elmira and Superior guarantees that this series will be interesting, to say the least.
ECAC WEST vs.
SUNYAC 4-3-0
ECAC East 0-0-0
NESCAC 0-0-0
NCHA 0-0-0
ECAC NE 1-0-0
Other 0-0-0
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TOTAL 5-3-0
