On the Fly
Thursday, October 21
Quebec Trois-Rivieres 3 at Cornell 6 (exhib)
Friday, October 22
RIT 1 at Rensselaer 4
RPI saw its consecutive penalty-kills streak end at 22, but five successful kills out of six – and 24 saves by junior Allen York – helped propel the Engineers past the Tigers. Freshman Brock Higgs scored power-play and game-winning goals for his first collegiate tallies, while seniors Tyler Helfrich and Bryan Brutlag cleaned up with a goal apiece for the ‘Tute.
Niagara 1 at Union 6
The Dutchmen scored four goals on 18 shots in the second period, vaulting Union over the Purple Eagles. Six different Dutchmen lit the lamp, with four multi-point scorers as well. The hosts held Niagara scoreless on seven power plays, giving UC 15 kills in their last 16 shorthanded situations. Sophomore Keith Kinkaid made 20 saves on 21 shots, and frosh Troy Grosenick mopped up with three saves in 5:29 late in the game.
Western Michigan 3 at St. Lawrence 1
The Saints offensive woes continued in their home opener, as SLU failed to top the two-goal mark for the fourth straight outing. Junior Jacob Drewiske scored his second of the season late in the first period to cut WMU’s lead to 2-1, but 40 more minutes of stalemate hockey were ultimately settled by a Broncos empty-netter. The Saints held their guests to 23 shots and a 1-7 mark on the power play, but SLU failed to score on their own three advantages, falling to 0-15 in their last five games. Rookie Matt Weninger made 20 saves on 22 shots, while former Quinnipiac goalie Nick Pisellini earned the W in the other crease.
Bentley 1 at Clarkson 5
Freshman forwards Matt Zarbo and Ben Sexton each notched a goal and two assists in the victory, backstopped by junior Paul Karpowich’s 25 saves and driven by the offense’s 53 shots. Clarkson’s power play remained stuck at zero goals for the season (0-23), but the squad improved to 3-0-0 when scoring a goal (0-2-0 in two shutouts). The Knights summed 15 goals in their first three wins, 0 in their two losses.
Colgate 1 at Lake Superior State 2
LSSU ‘keeper Brian Mahoney-Wilson had the Raiders’ number all night, stopping 31 of 32 and holding the ‘Gate scoreless on three power plays. The Lake State goalie out-dueled junior counterpart Alex Evin (26 saves), allowing only Colgate senior Brian Day’s first-period goal.
Saturday, October 23
Morrisville State 1 at Princeton 7 (exhib)
Holy Cross 1 at Quinnipiac 3
Freshman Kellen Jones scored his first two career goals in the third period to put away Holy Cross in front of the largest non-league crowd in TDBank Sports Center’s young history (3,891, a sellout). Bobcats’ junior Spencer Heichman opened the scoring with his second of the season, and third-year goalie Dan Clarke made 22 saves in QU’s second straight win (3-1-0 overall).
Colgate 4 at Lake Superior State 5
Two power-play goals weren’t enough for the Raiders, as the Lakers peppered Evin (35 saves) with double-digit shots each period and scored the game-winner with only 14 seconds to play. Day notched two goals with one assist, and senior Francois Brisebois and junior Austin Smith each earned three helpers in defeat. Sophs Robbie Bourdon and Thomas Larkin accounted for Colgate’s other two goals.
Western Michigan 3 at St. Lawrence 3 (ot)
Freshman Greg Carey put the Saints on his shoulders, scoring three second-period goals to draw SLU even and end the team’s three-game losing streak. Weninger made 26 stops and the Saints finally converted on the power play (1-4 in the game), though WMU was 2-6 on their own man-advantages.
U.S. Under-18 0 at Cornell 6
Niagara 3 at Rensselaer 4 (ot)
Higgs’ third goal of the weekend boosted the Engineers to their third straight win and extended their unbeaten run to five games (3-0-2). The rookie converted on sophomore Marty O’Grady’s feed 2:10 into overtime to lift RPI, which also got goals from juniors Alex Angers-Goulet and Josh Rabbani and senior Chase Polacek. York stopped 28 of 31, despite two Niagara power-play goals on seven opportunities.
RIT 2 at Union 7
Union improved to 4-0-0 at home, sporting a 29-6 goal differential at Messa Rink following the rout of RIT. Presizniuk scored two goals (including the game-winner) with one assist, but freshman sniper Matt Hatsch matched with a 2-1–3 line as well. Sophomore Wayne Simpson joined seniors Andrew Buote and Stephane Boileau with Union’s other goals, and Kinkaid made 26 saves to improve his, the Dutchmen’s, fifth victory in six games (5-1-0).
Bentley 3 at Clarkson 3 (ot)
Clarkson let a 3-0 third-period lead slip away, and saw their power-play impotence extended to 0-27 for the year. Karpowich made 30 saves in the frustrating draw, and the Knights got goals from senior Brandon DeFazio, junior Nick Tremblay, and Sexton.
In retrospect…
Prediction precision: 7-2-2 (.727) last week, 13-4-3 (.725) overall
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