The Yeshiva University roller hockey team traveled to Long Island, N.Y. to finish off the regular season with two big games. Having already played 14 games- each team in the conference once, the Macs were given two additional quasi-exhibition games against two of the top teams to help stoke the rivalries and set the tone for the upcoming regional tournament. 
 
Up first was a Saturday night match-up against the Endicott Gulls, the undefeated #1 ranked team in the country. After losing to them earlier in the season, the boys were anxious to get one back, and it showed as YU came flying out the gate. Daniel Bordan put Yeshiva on the board first when he cut in hard and put in his own rebound. The lead lasted thru the first intermission, but the Gulls tied it up early in the second on their power play. Endicott followed with two more before Captain Benjy Shulman set up Moshe Genuth on a 2-on-1, halving the deficit to 3-2. Endicott got one more before the second ended, and another one to open the third, burying the Macs 5-2. After a few minutes of intense but scoreless play, the Gulls broke though again. With less than four minutes to play, Yeshiva got back on the board when Shulman snuck in for the one-timer. Matthew Carl put the boys within two, but Endicott answered back and ultimately finished off the Macs, 7-4. Despite the loss, the Macs looked strong against the best team in the nation and the game was much closer than the three-goal difference.
 
After a pizza party at the Weissman home just a few minutes away in West Hempstead, the boys had plenty of time to rest before their second and final contest, a noon tilt against a hot Hofstra Pride team. The name of the game was vengeance once again as YU lost their previous match-up against the Pride in an intense overtime game where the Macs were sorely shorthanded. Just over three minutes in, Hofstra struck first, but that was soon canceled out by an Ami Rosenfeld deflection on a Zev Markowitz shot. The Pride put away three straight before David Soffer ripped in a slapper with just a few ticks left in the first. Hofstra scored on another wild deflection to open the second, but Geno got it back via a sweet move on the breakaway. Two more tallies from the Pride dug Yeshiva in a 7-3 hole until Bordo finished another sweet centering pass from Cap'n Benj with just under a minute left in the second period. Three minutes in to the third Sof sniped in another one from the point, pulling YU within two. A long period of dominant play ensued, with the boys controlling the game and ringing a few ones hard off the pipe but not finding the back of the net. Thanks to Bordan once again, the Macs finally broke through and cut the game to 7-6 with just 15 seconds left, but it was too little too late as time expired and the Macs fell to Hofstra by another close score of 7-6.
 
Despite the losses, the boys looked good in both games, putting up an impressive effort against the top team and outplaying another streaking talented squad. The Macs will finish the regular season in fifth place (but just two points out of second) in the stacked ECRHA after their strong second half, where they were 5-0 in conference play. YU will play Hofstra once again at noon on March 1st in Feasterville, Pa. to open the regional tournament where they will compete for a regional title and a bid to the national tournament. Be sure to follow us on social media (@yurollerhockey) and cheer us on! #ToTheMacs