{"id":25419,"date":"2003-01-16T15:59:50","date_gmt":"2003-01-16T21:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2003\/01\/16\/this-week-in-the-ecac-west-jan-16-2003\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:55:21","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:55:21","slug":"this-week-in-the-ecac-west-jan-16-2003","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2003\/01\/16\/this-week-in-the-ecac-west-jan-16-2003\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in the ECAC West: Jan. 16, 2003"},"content":{"rendered":"
With campuses located just nine miles apart, Utica and Hamilton are natural rivals. This year, the coaches of the two teams decided to schedule a home-and-home series to extend that opposition to men’s ice hockey. From all accounts, it appears that a new rivalry is indeed budding.<\/p>\n
The first matchup was December 10 at Hamilton, which the Continentals won 1-0 in a closely-fought contest. Hamilton also won the second game, at Utica last week, 6-1. Even with the wider margin of victory, it appears that the spirit of rivalry has taken hold.<\/p>\n
“It was a great hockey game. We played very well, but the score didn’t indicate how the game went. We just couldn’t score,” said Utica coach Gary Heenan. “We’re still looking for consistency. With Hamilton, we played 40 minutes of great hockey, and then they scored four goals in the last period to kill us. Consistency through 60 minutes of hockey and in the key situations is the main thing.” <\/p>\n
“The game was very old-school hockey with a great atmosphere. Hamilton gave half the rink to our fans and half to their fans, and they were going back and forth with chants at each other all night long. It was a great, great hockey game.”<\/p>\n
Utica was hampered by a shortened bench. Three Pioneers were missing due to DQs earned during a scuffle at the end of the consolation game in the Times-Argus Tournament against St. Thomas. Jimmy Sokol, second on Utica’s scoring list, was the most glaring name sitting out of the lineup. Jeff Tittensor and Geoff Brandt were also out for the game against Hamilton.<\/p>\n
“[The scuffles] were really blown out of proportion,” said Heenan. “[St. Thomas] was frustrated and was upset. It was more of a mauling, there weren’t any gloves on the ice or any real fights.”<\/p>\n
Even with the suspensions, Utica was happy on the bus ride home from Northfield, Vt. The 4-2 victory over then-No.6 St. Thomas was a huge win for the young Pioneer program.<\/p>\n
“We played just a flawless hockey game,” said Heenan. “We scored when we had the chances, and had great goaltending. That was the biggest win against a ranked opponent in our program’s history.”<\/p>\n
Some fans around Division III hockey look at Utica’s 5-9 record and think that the sophomore jinx is dragging down its season. After all, at this time last year Utica had a 7-7-2 record. But that’s not how the Pioneers are viewing things.<\/p>\n
“We’re playing with the top teams out there right now, where last year we were getting blown out by them,” said Heenan. “We are 5-9, but my guys aren’t frustrated because we are playing with everyone and if we get a break here or there, then we’re going to nail them. Many people have criticized me for making such a hard schedule this year. They say it is too fast. Even some of my own players think I am nuts. But I believe these are the kind of games we need to be involved in, in order to grow.”<\/p>\n
After a relatively healthy first half of the season, the injury bug has hit RIT hard over the last two weeks, particularly in its defensive zone. Three starting defensemen and the backup goaltender all have gone down with injuries recently.<\/p>\n
Some injuries are more serious than others are, but at this point, none appear to be season-ending. Ryan Franke and Mike Walling, two key defensemen along with freshman defender J.R. Holmes, are all on the injured list with various body parts dinged up. Depending on how rehab goes this week, the Tigers might see none, some, or all three back this weekend.<\/p>\n
Also out with a freak injury is freshman netminder George Eliopoulos. He tore off part of his index finger on his blocker hand in practice last week when a puck hit it hard at a bad angle. A local hand surgeon sewed the fingertip back on, and the prognosis for a full recovery is very good.<\/p>\n
The Tigers felt the impact of these missing players in two losses against the USA Under-18 Team this past week. Blame for the losses can’t be placed on the missing players, but RIT looked uncomfortable in its own zone during the greater portion of both games as three freshman defenders tried to settle into their new starting roles.<\/p>\n
Team USA used speed and determination to beat RIT to rebounds, scoring seven of its 11 goals that way.<\/p>\n
“These are games that we need to set a whole mindset for later in the season,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “We took a lot of positives out of the weekend, but there are still things that we can improve on.”<\/p>\n
Luckily for RIT, the games against the USA squad were only exhibitions.<\/p>\n