A packed house at the Susquehanna Sports Center watched the Shippensburg University Roller Hockey team take on the #1 ranked Neumann College Knights. With many SU fans in attendance, the Raiders almost pulled off the upset, but the game ended in a 5-5 tie.

The Raiders first regular season event featured games against the University of Scranton Royals, the #14 ranked Temple University Owls, and the #1 ranked Neumann Knights and it was the first time since last year that the Raiders had all of the players back from various injuries and playing together.

The Raiderâ??s first game was against the Scranton Royals and it was the first meeting between the two teams. SU came out on fire and looked great on offense, out shooting Scranton 32 to 9.  SU also looked very good on defense, only allowing 9 shots, and Goalie John DeLoretta  stopped all of them.  The final score was 10-0 Raiders, with defensemen Tommy Hagg and Simon Lock leading the charge with 3 and 4 goals respectively.

The Raiderâ??s second game was against the Temple Owls, who SU has never lost to, leading the series match-up 5-0.  Once again the SU offense looked very good, getting 28 shots and scoring 7 goals, with defensemen Tom Cavanaugh and Hagg leading the team with 4 goals and 2 goals.  The SU defense struggled a bit, giving up 32 shots and 4 goals, but the Raiders still won 7-4.

The Raiderâ??s final and most anticipated game of the day was against the defending DII National Champion Neumann Knights, who had outscored opponents 60 to 9, in their first 6 regular season games.  â??Getting ready to play Neumann is always exciting, we haven't beaten them since 2004 and them being the defending national champions adds a little extra.â? forward Bill Bourque said.  The Knights also led the series match-up against the Raiders, 4-1-2.

The game started at a frantic pace with both teams hustling up and down the rink, but the Raiders were determined to play their best and they outscored the Knights 4-0 in the first period, with goals from forwards Josh Hartshorne, Aaron Richards, and 2 goals from Hagg.  But during the second and third periods things started to unravel for the Raiders, who were overwhelmed by the speed and skill of the Knights and also by numerous penalties, and by the third period the Knights were winning 5-4. However, the Raiders never gave up and with less than 2 minutes remaining in the third period Cavanaugh scored the game-tying goal.  The game ended in a 5-5 tie and although the Raiders gave up a 4-goal lead, they never put their heads down and fought back to earn the tie in a hard fought game. 

â??We definitely had an opportunity to win that game, but a tie against the defending national champions is nothing to be ashamed of.â? forward Jeff Kulp said.

The Raiderâ??s ended their first weekend of play with a 2-0-1 record and showed a great deal of improvement over their play in the preseason.  If they keep playing like this, then a return trip to the national championships could definitely be in the works.

â??I thought we played well.  It was our first time together as a full team since we've all been hurt and what not. It was also the first time the top three players from last year were back together and I think by midseason we should be an elite team and rolling on all cylinders.â? Lock said. 

Kulp also thought that the team played well, â??I think the weekend went better than we had hoped for.  We definitely expected to beat Scranton and Temple, but a tie against Neumann was much better than we expected.â? Kulp said.

Next up for the Raiders is a regular season event on Nov. 18-19, in Feasterville, PA.  SU plays Wentworth, Briarcliffe, and rivals Millersville and #6 ranked West Chester.