The Yeshiva University Roller Hockey team continued its season with a four-game slate this Sunday, at Skate Safe America, on Long Island. After a disappointing showing in Sewell a few weeks ago, the Macs were looking to improve their 1-1-1 record and show the rest of the ECRHA that they haven't lost a step from last season.
 
Courtesy of a pre-dawn wake up (and an extra hour of sleep), Yeshiva arrived at Skate Safe ready for their 7:00 a.m. game against the University of Vermont Catamounts.
Unfortunately, neither the rink nor their opponents reciprocated, and the Macs were awarded a forfeit win after 2 of Vermont's 5 skaters failed to show up. Short one player and with an hour of rink time to kill, coach Ari Drazin suited up for the Catamounts, and a friendly scrimmage followed. Even though no official game was played, Yeshiva walked away from the 7:00 a.m. slot warmed up and ahead 1-0 on the day.
 
Soon after the scrimmage concluded, the boys gathered for a quick Shacharit and then dressed for the 9:00 a.m. matchup vs. Cornell. Unlike Vermont, the Big Reds had a full team on hand and the game proceeded as planned. Cornell entered the game having won their last two and had no intention of giving Yeshiva an easy win. Knotted at zero over four minutes into the game, David Soffer started up the scoring for Yeshiva, which was soon followed by a long pass from Zev Markowitz to Daniel Bordan that a streaking Avi "Crown Jewel" Edell finished for the game's second goal. Several minutes later, Markowitz deked and sniped home one of his own, and goals from Moshe Genuth and Sammy Smigel sent Yeshiva into the first intermission up comfortably, 6-0.
 
Despite a six-goal lead, Yeshiva was not content to sit back and play conservative. After Cornell finally broke through with a power play goal, Genuth capped off his hat trick to put YU back up, 7-1. Less than a minute later, the Big Red answered back once again, but two straight goals from Matthew Carl, followed by two more from Ami Rosenfeld put the Macs up 11-2. Lovely stretch passing by Captain Benjy Shulman gave Matty a breakaway where he capped his hatty, while Avi Edell sniped home his second of the game as the second period ended. Yeshiva entered the third period up, 13-2.
 
Filthy passing by MC set up a Geno Gino (his fourth of the game), and Markowitz's silky mittens gave Yeshiva a 15-2 lead. Unreal hand-eye by Rosenfeld on a captain Benjy shot gave Rosenfield the hatty too. Cornell never struck again, and when the final buzzer sounded, Yeshiva had won 16-2. Keeper Scott Weissman collected his second win of the season with a 19 save effort, and halfway through the day, Yeshiva was full of chemistry, confidence, and Teaneck Road Hot Bagels. 
 
The third game of the day was an 11:00 a.m. match up against Boston University. Having played them several times in the past, Yeshiva had a good idea of what they were up against. Exceptional play by Daniel Bordan gave the Macs a three-goal lead as Bordo completed a hat trick in the first shift of the game! More dangles by Daniel Bordan set up a fourth Yeshiva goal by Smigel as YU ended the first period up 4-0.
 
Beautiful tic-tac-toe passing by Bordan and Edell set up Genuth for a tip-in on the power play, while a Smigy deflection on a captain Benjy shot extended our lead to 6-0.  A power play goal by Eddy capped off the second as we headed to the locker room up 7-0. Despite being shorthanded, a juicy rebound put BU on the board, but goals by Geno and Benj, as well as solid goaltending by Josh Markowitz secured the victory for Yeshiva, 9-1.
 
Game four against Syracuse was sure to be our most difficult. Understandably tired after playing three games in a matter of hours, it didn't help that our fourth opponent was also our most challenging. Yeshiva was hoping to not have a repeat of their loss versus the Orange last season, but at 6-2-1, Syracuse was no doubt a good team and had improved since last year. So at 1:00 p.m., YU's fourth and final game of the day was on.
 
Although tired, the Macs came flying out of the gate, but a fluke goal just 30 seconds in quickly took a bite out of their confidence. Not too long after Syracuse struck, Zev tied it up with a slapper off a deep faceoff win, but Syracuse once again put it behind Scotty, less than a minute after Yeshiva tied it up. Daniel Bordan answered back in a hurry with a power play goal, but a late shorty gave the Orange a 3-2 lead heading into the first break. 
 
Another pair of early period goals by Syracuse dug the hole deeper, and although Yeshiva continued playing good hockey, they were unable to find the back of the net. Another tally by Syracuse put them up 6-2, but the Macs finally struck back when Zev Markowitz tucked in a rebound on the power play for his second of the game. Great opportunities for Yeshiva went unfinished in the third, and a late goal by Syracuse all but sealed it. Solid play by the boys against a top team didn't translate into a win, and YU fell to Syracuse 7-3 to end the day.
 
While it was a tough loss, Yeshiva still walked away with six points out of a possible eight, and outscored opponents 28-10 in three games. Every skater collected at least one goal over the course of the day, and the Macs looked crisp, quick, sharp, and vastly improved since their last games. With three more games to go before the break, expect the boys to look even better next time.
 
The YU Roller Hockey team will play next on Sunday, November 18 at The Sportsplex in Feasterville, PA. 
Make sure to follow them on all social media @yurollerhockey