By Joseph Robin

OLD BETHPAGE, N.Y. - The Yeshiva University roller hockey team went into last weekend looking to build off its 3-0 start. With a heavy schedule of four grueling games in the span of 14 hours, the players knew they would have to dig deep to keep the impressive season going.

Yeshiva started with a Saturday night tilt against the 5-2 Hofstra University team, a strong squad one year removed from playing in Division I. Yeshiva came out strong with relentless pressure and support to wear down the strong Hofstra attack. Donny Fuchs scored a hat trick while linemate Jake Ratzker scored a goal and contributed three assists. Yeshiva took the opening game by a score of 7-1.

With a quick turnaround before their 7:00 a.m. game on Sunday morning, the team took advantage of daylight savings time and rested up before their big game against Endicott College. Once again, YU's tremendous forechecking was too much for the Gulls to handle and the Macs had no trouble putting the puck in the net. In the 6-1 victory, Ratzker and Fuchs combined for four of the goals while Ari Drazin and David Soffer scored one apiece.

Boston University was the next opponent on the busy Sunday morning and YU showed no signs of slowing down. The Macs bombarded BU with a season-high 58 shots on net and scored 10 goals in the process. Seven different Yeshiva players scored in the game including 2 goals for Moshe Genuth, and an impressive 5-point game for Drazin. Yeshiva won the game 10-5 and went into their last game of the weekend with a 6-0 record.

Standing in Yeshiva's way in the 11:00 a.m. game was Stony Brook University, a team that Yeshiva won the "Best Rivalry" trophy with just a year prior. These two teams have a history of intense matchups and everybody knew that this game would be no different. The only question was whether or not the Macs would have enough left in the tank for the big game.

Stony Brook opened the scoring late in the first period to put the Macs in a 1-0 hole. However, YU used the goal-against as a wake-up call and came alive in the second period, pumping in three goals against 2017 Goalie of the Year Rory Buckley. The goals were scored by offensive leaders Fuchs, Ratzker, and Drazin and gave Yeshiva a comfortable 3-1 lead going into the third period. Yeshiva never got complacent and kept pouring it on, throwing 46 shots on net. Drazin scored another and Fuchs netted two more to complete the hat trick while goaltender Joseph Robin stopped 25 of 26 shots in the 6-1 victory.

Yeshiva is now atop the ECRHA with a 7-0 record with one more weekend of games left before heading into the league's mid-season break. With four more tough matchups coming this weekend in the team's home rink in North Arlington, New Jersey, the Macs will look to keep the hot streak going.

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