OLD BETHPAGE, NY - The Yeshiva University Roller Hockey Team closed out the regular season on Sunday, Feb. 18 with three games on Long Island. After a strong first half, which saw the Maccabees winning ten of their eleven games, the Maccabees had a shorter workload in the second half of the season, with three games each in Tiverton, RI and Old Bethpage, NY.

Yeshiva opened up the latter half of their semester with an early game on Sunday, February 11th vs Univeristy of Vermont. Thanks to a shutout by Michael Mintz, and a hat trick by Eitan Levy, the Macs won their opener 11-0. An immediate back-to-back against an underrated Temple Univeristy team proved tough, but the team stayed strong and outlasted the Owls 6-2. In the final matchup of the day, YU took on another tough opponent in the hometown University of Rhode Island Rams. The Macs pulled ahead in the middle of the second period, but a strong URI surge late in the third tied the contest, until rookie forward/goalie Sol Feder netted the game winner with just under two minutes left. Thanks to great goaltending, powerful offense, and solid defensive play, Yeshiva made it back to NY for the Superbowl with a clean sweep of their Rhode Island opponents.

With less than a week off, the Maccabees were back in action for a Saturday night game in Old Bethpage against their previous week's opponents, the Temple University Owls. YU started off slow, surrendering a goal two minutes in, then another one on their own power play, then another one shorthanded. Yeshiva answered back with three straight to tie it up, but Temple soon pulled away with two more to close out the second. The Macs opened the third with another two to tie it up, but after a scoreless OT, the Owls netted two in the shootout to hand Yeshiva a stunning 6-5 OT loss, its first since October 29th. 

With first place, and the first seed in the ECRHA regional tournament at stake, the Macs bounced back quite impressively versus Penn State University, holding a 6-1 lead until the final minutes, and finishing with a 7-3 win. Following an hour break, YU faced off against their good friends at Hofstra University, for an "exhibition" game. Having faced each other twice during the season with each team winning once, the season-closing tilt was more about respect and revenge than rankings. The Hofstra Pride struck first, but the Macs answered back with two genos to close out period one. Both teams traded goals in the second, with Yeshiva coming out ahead 4-2, before the Macs really broke it open in the third. Yeshiva closed out their season finale with a 9-3 win over Hofstra, and finished the season with an impressive record of 14-1-1. 

Maccabee defensemen Zachary Levy and Yoni Drazin can be found in the top five in the ECRHA for assists, and forwards Sol Feder and Benji Froom both rank in the top five in the ECRHA for goals, while goaltender Michael Mintz is among the top five for goals against average and wins. Additionally, Yeshiva's own Michael Mintz, Yoni Drazin, and Eitan Levy were all named to the ECRHA all star game.

Yeshiva will be back in action on March 1st in Broomall, PA for the ECRHA regional tournament. Be sure to follow us on Instagram @yurollerhockey for the latest in all things YURH!