The YU Roller Hockey team went up to Dracut, Massachusetts this past weekend for the first three games of its 2019-2020 ECRHA season. While daylight savings definitely helped mitigate the nearly four-hour drive, the boys were still up and at it early for their 7:00 a.m. season opener against the St. Joseph's College Long Island Golden Eagles.
After a quick Shachrit and breakfast, the Macs hit the rink as cold as the uninsulated arena they were playing in. With a plethora of fresh faces and no preseason to adjust, Yeshiva was in need of an opportunity to settle in. But thanks to a late arrival, the odds against the boys were only furthered as they were forced to start the game a man short. The tardiness proved costly as YU coughed one up on the initial PP. The Macs tied it up later in the period thanks to
David Soffer's blazing speed but St. Joe's answered back quickly and held onto the 2-1 league through the first intermission. The Eagles scored thrice more in the second before Yeshiva got one back, thanks again to Soffer. The boys entered the third looking much improved and things seemed to finally be clicking, but despite many quality scoring opportunities they were unable to finish until
Matthew Carl finally cut the deficit to two. Although YU ultimately couldn't complete the comeback, they looked very strong in the third period and walked away from game one on a confident note.
After less than an hour break the boys were back at it, this time against the University of Vermont Catamounts. Vermont scored first, just a minute into the game. It didn't take long for the Macs to answer back on a
Sammy Smigel deflection, followed soon after by an
Ari Solomon gino and a Yaacov Schneider apple. Yeshiva scored twice on the power play, and twice again, successfully chasing the Catamount's goalie and finishing the first up 6-2. The second period included more goals for both sides, highlighted by a
Shuki Weinstein rocket, and after two it was 9-5 in favor of the boys. Vermont starting creeping back with two more scores, but back-to-back goals by Yeshiva effectively put the comeback to bed, and finished game two with an 11-8 victory.
After another short break (and some quick naps), the Macs were back at it for the third and final game of the day against the defending National Champions, the Endicott College Gulls. The boys entered the game skating well and looking good, but like the first two games they surrendered an early goal. Ten minutes of strong play by Yeshiva held the deficit at one until Soffer tied it up with another beautiful goal. The Gulls reclaimed the lead in the second until Carl ripped a blazing slapper to tie it up once again, thanks to a nice feed from Jonathan Sacks. It didn't take too long for Endicott to retake the lead, to which they added one more before the second period came to a close. Another pair of goals from the Gulls put the Macs in a 6-2 hole early in the third, and despite being kept in the game thanks to strong defense by Sammy Wietschner and excellent goaltending by Captain Scott Weisman, the boys couldn't close the gap. Yeshiva finally broke through again late in the third, but it was too little too late as YU fell to the Endicott powerhouse 6-3.
Thanks to a Cornell forfeit, the boys headed home Sunday with two wins and two losses. Every game was close and the Macs looked more and more improved after each shift. Despite losing a handful of veterans to graduation and having many inexperienced rookies playing their very first ECRHA games, it didn't even take a full weekend for Yeshiva to look like their old selves. The Macs are looking forward to this coming weekend where they'll take on the top competition of Syracuse, Hofstra, and SUNY Oswego at Skate Safe in Long Island. With the benefit of experience under their belts, as well as the addition of top four defenseman Zev Markowtiz, the boys are primed for some exciting action in the very near future!
Make sure you follow the YU Roller Hockey team on social media @yurollerhockey.
Come cheer us on this weekend at Skate Safe America.
