{"id":24821,"date":"2002-10-14T19:01:21","date_gmt":"2002-10-15T00:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2002\/10\/14\/200203-findlay-season-preview\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:54:30","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:54:30","slug":"200203-findlay-season-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2002\/10\/14\/200203-findlay-season-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"2002-03 Findlay Season Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"
After a 9-4 exhibition win over Windsor on Sept. 28, Findlay head coach Adam Brinker knew his young team still had some work to do.<\/p>\n
“We saw a lot of early-season mistakes,” Brinker said. “They were mistakes that are typical of young teams. But we’ve had a couple of weeks to correct those things. I guess we’ll find out because we jump into it right away.”<\/p>\n
Brinker was referring to his team’s schedule, which opens with four games against 2002 NCAA Frozen Four participants: No. 2 Minnesota and Niagara.<\/p>\n
Although young, with a roster featuring 17 underclassmen, the Oilers have 14 players returning from last year. Brinker believes they learned from their 8-24-2 season a year ago. Among those 24 losses were seven by one goal and six by two goals.<\/p>\n
“A lot of factors go into a one-goal game,” Brinker said. “I think we were able to learn from that. Last year we couldn’t bury our chances but this season, they seem pretty focused. Our players have come back in better shape physically and are more ready to play.”<\/p>\n
Although averaging more than two goals per game is high on the priority list for Findlay this year, the hopes for success begin in goal, where senior Erin Blair returns for her final season.<\/p>\n
Despite a 4-19-1 record, Blair managed to keep her team in a number of games and her performance in the season’s second half, Brinker thinks, built her confidence for this season. He also feels comfortable with backups Jessica Moffat, a freshman, and sophomore Amy Jones, who was 4-3-0 in eight appearances last season.<\/p>\n