The teams in the middle of the ECAC West standings re-exerted themselves this past weekend, demonstrating the depth of the league. In the Game of the Week highlighted in this column, third place Hobart went into the Thunderdomes last Saturday and handed Elmira its first conference loss, 5-3.<\/p>\n
Special teams were key for the Statesmen as they used a shorthanded tally to get going in the first period and scored a trio of power-play goals. Elmira is still in the driver\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seat for the regular season title, but the margin has now been narrowed.<\/p>\n
Fourth place Neumann also found success on the road, taking three of four point at Manhattanville. The near-sweep kept alive the Knights\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 hopes for a second place finish in the standings.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We had a pretty good weekend,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Neumann head coach Dominick Dawes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Anytime anyone can go into a lot of the places we go and come out with three points is a good thing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Friday night\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game was a true back-and-forth affair as each team held a lead but also had to battle back from a deficit during the contest. Neumann sophomore Marlon Gardner finally scored the game winner with just over five minutes remaining in the third period to give the Knights the 4-3 victory.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Friday was very physical, very up tempo,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Dawes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our guys rose to the occasion and played very hard. It was a good back-and-forth hockey game.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rematch was an unusual game, ending in a 0-0 tie. My personal ECAC West records go all the way back to the 1993-94 season, and there has not been a 0-0 tie in a game involving an ECAC West team during that time.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Saturday wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as physical,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Dawes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Manhattanville came out very hungry, having lost Friday, and really took it to us in the first period. After that, we settled down and played a lot better. Both goaltenders played very well.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The goaltenders really shone during the contest, as would be expected during a scoreless game. Manhattanville\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Pierre-Olivier Lemieux turned aside all 27 shots he faced, lowering his goals against average to 2.41.<\/p>\n
In net for Neumann was newcomer Jonathan La Rose, starting only his second game since joining the team in January. He stopped the 39 shots on goal from Manhattanville during the game.<\/p>\n
Manhattanville had a stellar opportunity to win the game when a flurry of penalties near the end of regulation resulted in the Valiants with three minutes of power play in overtime. Despite pouring 11 shots on net during the man advantage, Manhattanville couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bury the puck and the game ended in a tie.<\/p>\n
Utica took care of business this past weekend, sweeping its final home weekend of games against Lebanon Valley, but the games were not easy. <\/p>\n
Despite being without a head coach, and the program holding on to its very existence by a thread, the Flying Dutchmen are playing strong, upholding the integrity of the game and themselves.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They work hard and are playing disciplined hockey,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Utica head coach Gary Heenan. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is hard to imagine they haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t won a game because they are doing a lot of good things.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Utica held a 6-2 lead heading into the third period in Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game, but as has happened too often this season, the Pioneers played terrible in the third. Lebanon Valley scored a trio of goals in the third period, including an extra attacker goal with 39 seconds remaining, but ran out of time and lost 6-5.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We put a good 40 minutes together the first night,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Heenan. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been doing in third periods, we kind of collapsed. It was touch and go for the last minute of the hockey game. Fortunately, we held on.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The Pioneers were a little steadier on Saturday. After rolling out to a 3-1 lead in the first period, Utica played a strong third, outshooting Lebanon Valley 21-2 and winning 4-1.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We had a grasp on the game from the drop of the puck,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Heenan. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Their goalie played extremely well on Saturday, extremely well. The third period, even though all we got was the empty netter, it was in their end the entire third period.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Injuries have hit Utica like the plague all season long and have driven the story behind the Pioneers disappointing season. While goal scoring is up from previous years, and the Pioneers seem to have finally found the key to a successful power play, injuries have forced young players to have to step in to key roles much sooner than expected and it has led to problems late in games.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It has been a weird year,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Heenan. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We all as coaches have gone thru injuries before, but the extent of these, the longevity of these, and the key players it is hitting has been a blow to our team. It has forced us to put some young guys in key situations and it has led to some third period collapses. It has been a tough year and has affected us in a lot of different areas.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
It is hoped the unlooked for experience that the Utica underclassmen are getting this season will pay benefits over the course of their future collegiate careers.<\/p>\n
Utica hits the road this weekend travelling down to Manhattanville. When these two teams met three weeks ago, it was an even game until late in the third period when Utica collapsed. The Valiants ripped off three quick goals to seal a 6-3 victory. <\/p>\n
That loss has left a bad taste for the Pioneers.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Realistically, to host a playoff game we have to win three out of four,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Heenan. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Up here against Manhattanville was a great hockey game, 3-3 with seven minutes to go and we let it slip away. Two teams that know each other well in a small barn should be tightly contested. Our power play didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t perform extremely well the last two weekends. That has been a positive area for us throughout the year, so we have to get that back on track. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re kind of in that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got nothing to lose underdog role.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Manhattanville also has something to prove this weekend. The Valiants had their ten game winning streak ended by Neumann last weekend. They need to get back on the horse if they want to be able to catch Elmira at the top of the standings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Middle of the Pack The teams in the middle of the ECAC West standings re-exerted themselves this past weekend, demonstrating the depth of the league. In the Game of the Week highlighted in this column, third place Hobart went into the Thunderdomes last Saturday and handed Elmira its first conference loss, 5-3. Special teams were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n