For the second year in a row, the Yeshiva University roller hockey team has won a bid to the NCRHA national tournament.
 
Aside from the seven team bids that are automatically allocated to the divisional champions, 13 at-large bids are awarded to teams from across the country. Yeshiva had to cling to the hope that their memorable season was impressive enough to be one of those teams selected.
 
The Eastern Division regional playoffs were held this past week in Feasterville, Pennsylvania. After an opening round 4-1 win against Penn State University, Yeshiva dropped a tight game with the #1 ranked Northeastern University. Because of an unfortunate tournament format, Yeshiva then had to forfeit a Saturday morning game, officially eliminating them from competition and ending their season.
 
"It's the second year in a row that our season ended with a Saturday forfeit. It's unfortunate but it's an easy decision for the team," said forward Avi Edell. "Our religious identity is crucial to all of us and we will never jeopardize that for the tournament."
 
The league gave Yeshiva a Saturday night game against Penn State to make one last statement and to give the committee one last chance to check the team out. After a back and forth contest, Penn State took a 4-3 lead with just 9 seconds left in the game. While many teams would feel dejected and would go down without a whimper, Yeshiva is not like many teams. After winning the ensuing face-off, senior captain Donny Fuchs flung one towards the net and second semester add-on Daniel Bordan redirected the puck into the net to miraculously tie things up with less than two seconds remaining.
 
"I just really wanted to get that goal. The second they dropped the puck, I went straight to the net knowing something would happen. Donny made the right play by throwing the puck to the net and I was there to bury it," said Bordan. "Getting that goal really capped off the theme of our weekend which was unity and being proud to play Yeshiva hockey. We felt proud to represent ourselves, YU, and the Jewish people."
 
Yeshiva rode the wave of momentum into overtime and captain Ari Drazin ended the game just a minute in, sealing the deal.
 
The win capped off what's been another successful program for the third-year squad. With an impressive 13-5 in a strong Eastern Division, Yeshiva has a lot to be proud of going into the National Tournament.
 
The team is one year removed from its underdog run to the Elite Eight in last year's tournament in Fort Myers, Florida.
 
Fuchs remembers what it took to make a run last year at the national tournament and knows that this year will be different.
"Fort Myers was a dream run, advancing deep in our first time at the National Tournament," he stated. "The key to success revolves around the team and taking everything in stride."
 
The tournament will be held April 11-15 in Fargo, North Dakota. With a little more than a month to go the teams will be working restlessly to get the results they're looking for.
 
There's a lot of preparation to go through before the tournament. The team must arrange flights, hotels, food, and making sure the players are all eligible and ready for competition. But most importantly, the team will have to practice and train hard to get the results they're looking for.
 
"Nationals is won in the next few weeks," posited 3rd year coach Elyashiv Gemara. "Whatever team puts in the most work between now and the tournament will have the best chance at succeeding. We're going to make sure that's us."