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ECRHA

Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association

Hey Now, You’re an All-Star

by Vincent Matula

ECRHA  February 21st, 2020 at 7:39PM  February 22nd, 2020 2:53PM

This weekend the All-Star event will take place from Old Bethpage, New York. Most teams from around the league will be in attendance for their last taste of regular season play before the first portion of Conference Championships begin next weekend in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Anyways, congrats to all who have been selected as an ECRHA All-Star!

 

Before heading to Grove City next weekend and competing in the Division 1 Regional Championship, Farmingdale State College returns to their home rink for three regular season matchups against D2 opponents. For the first time this season, the Rams will take on both Rowan and RIT while getting their second match against Stony Brook University. Farmingdale last lost to a D2 club back in October when they began their season with a winless record (0-3). Since that opening regular season weekend, they have yet to lose a game in regulation and have won eight of their last ten games played. It appears Farmingdale has tightened up their defense in the spring semester as the team has allowed 13 goals in five regular season games played compared to the 24 goals allowed in their first six regular season games.

 

Coming into the weekend, UMass has an opportunity to clinch the top spot in Division 2 for the second consecutive season. However, trailing them by just one point is Robert Morris University. The two will colloide for their second meeting of the season which saw the Minutemen of Massachusetts come from behind and take a 5-4 win back in November. After that game, the University of Massachusetts will go up against RIT on Sunday morning. RIT happens to be the only D2 team that UMass has fallen to this season. Before both these games however, the club plays West Chester to start their trip.

 

Speaking of Robert Morris, they’re coming off their first weekend of the season where the team suffered more than one loss in a weekend. This weekend, the club ends their regular season with Northeastern, UMass and Stony Brook. Bobby Mo fell to UMass and Stony Brook earlier this season, each by just one goal. Excluding exhibition games, the Colonials have not lost a game by more than one goal against a D2 opponent this season. A power play that saw Robert Morris convert five times in Sewell, New Jersey now sits at 64.3%, the best in D2.

 

It’s a one day trip for Northeastern University that features two regular season games on Saturday against Robert Morris and RIT. Their previous weekend of action in Dracut, Massachusetts saw the Huskies tally just six goals in three games. To this point, the club has been averaging exactly six goals per regular season game. It just so happens to be the amount of goals Northeastern scored last time out against RIT, but lost by a count of 7-2 against Robert Morris.

 

With two games in hand on Northeastern, RIT enters the weekend trailing the Huskies by two points for third place. The Tigers begin their weekend against Penn State who they will play for the third time this season. Since moving to D2 in 2017-2018, Rochester IT has gone 6-1-1 against Penn State with three games needing extra time. After that it’s a meeting with Northeastern followed by D1 Farmingdale and UMass to end the trip on Sunday Morning. Rochester remains the least penalized team in the division with only 32 penalty minutes and also maintains the best penalty kill percentage of 73.3%.

 

After starting their first semester of the season with a 0-5-1 record, Stony Brook University has done a complete 180 winning four of their last five games with all four wins coming against D2 opponents. A huge five game weekend awaits the Seawolves which includes a rematch against D1 Farmingdale where the team lost 4-1 to the Rams in Dracut three weeks ago. Stony Brook goes up against Penn State, Rowan and Robert Morris for the second time this semester while the club will also look to avenge a 2-1 loss to West Chester suffered back in November. Dating back to the 2017-2018 season, Stony Brook has won 20 straight regular season contests when scoring at least six goals. This semester, the team is averaging 7.2 goals per game which is a big increase from the 3.5 goals they averaged in the fall.

 

Looking to build off a comeback victory against Rowan will be West Chester University. Since their two game winning streak back in November, the Golden Rams have lost seven of their last nine which included a stretch of five straight losses. Two of their four wins this season have come against Stony Brook and Penn State which happens to be two of the three teams that they’ll take on this weekend. The remaining team that West Chester will play is UMass which comes in between the previously mentioned clubs.

 

For Penn State, it’s been six games since the team has scored more than two goals while also dropping their last seven games in regulation. Despite their struggles, they only sit three points behind West Chester for sixth place and have a game in hand. The Nittany Lions will face both Stony Brook and West Chester in an effort to respond from earlier losses this season. Rowan University is also on their schedule who Penn State took down in running clock fashion. Right off the bat, Rowan will have their hands full as they go up against D1 Farmingdale to begin their time in Old Bethpage. The Profs have two more games on Saturday against Stony Brook and Penn State as the club continues to search for their first win of the season and gain some momentum heading into Regionals.

 

A perfect weekend in Dracut, Massachusetts has put Syracuse University in prime position to clinch the top spot in Division 3 this weekend. The only two teams that stand in their way are Hofstra and Drexel. Last season, Syracuse fell to Hofstra in a shootout while winning two out of three games over Drexel with one of those wins being an elimination game at Regionals. Just three points is all the Orange needs to capture their second Regular Season Championship since 2014-2015.

 

A record of 10-2 is good enough for second or third place in D3, depending on your teams goals allowed. The only thing left to break this tie is a head-to-head match between Endicott College and Temple University on Saturday afternoon. Goalies Stephen Richetelli of Endicott and Cody Baldwin of Temple will square off for the first time since their opening round meeting at Regionals last season. Along with Endicott’s running clock defeat at Regionals, Richetelli also edged Baldwin for the Goalie of the Year award last season. At the moment, Baldwin leads D3 in Goals Against Average (2.31) while Richetelli is first in Save Percentage (.881). Each team gets four total games with Endicott also playing against Cortland, Farmingdale Black (non-conference) and Lock Haven. For Temple, they have Oswego, UMass (D4, non-conference) and Yeshiva.

 

Also possessing a 10-2 regular season record is Neumann University. The club began their season with 13 straight victories (excluding pre-season) and have gone 1-3 since. For a team that has scored 112 regular season goals, only seven have come on the power play in their 19 chances. While shorthanded however, the Knights have tallied five goals as well as the best penalty kill percentage in D3 at 88.2%. Neumann carries a four game schedule of Montclair, Hofstra, St. Joseph’s and a non-conference tilt with Farmingdale Black. The team endured losses to both Montclair and Hofstra back in pre-season.

 

Just two games are up for Drexel University this weekend as one of them is a non-conference tilt against Stony Brook’s secondary team. Their other is against Syracuse which will be the only regular season game they partake in. The Dragons are one of four teams in D3 with 20 points coming into the weekend.

 

A two game losing streak has since awoken Oswego State with the team winning six straight regular season contests. Excluding forfeits, the team has allowed just three goals in their last four games played while scoring a whopping 38. Outside of their opening game against D4 Slippery Rock (non-conference), the Lakers take on Temple and Vermont for their final two games of the regular season. Oswego recorded comeback victories against both clubs last season scoring six goals in each game.

 

SUNY Cortland is right in the thick of things with 18 points and a seventh place position. Similar to Neumann, Cortland also has one of the better penalty kills in the division which is at 84%. In total, the Red Dragons have allowed just four power play goals in 25 times they've been shorthanded. The club will play Endicott and Vermont who are the last two teams they’ve yet to see this season from D3. Between those two games is a non-conference meeting with D4 Northeastern.

 

Montclair is up next from D3 as they are coming off a weekend of three straight non-conference wins by five or more goals. For the second time in less than a week, the Red Hawks are set to play St. Joseph’s. Along with that, Montclair plays Neumann for the first time since defeating them in pre-season and also get some non-conference action with Farmingdale Green. The first year club out of New Jersey finishes up their weekend with Boston University on Sunday morning.

 

Hoping to revert back to their early season success this weekend will be St. Joseph’s College. Although the Golden Eagles began their season with a 3-1 record, the club has since gone 3-5-1 in regular season play. After falling 8-2 to Montclair just last weekend, St. Joe’s has an opportunity for redemption in front of their home crowd. A game with Neumann begins their Saturday slate and ends with D4 Slippery Rock (non-conference). Before all three of these games, St. Joseph’s starts their home weekend with non-conference play against Farmingdale Green. This game will mark the first time since October 2017 that the Golden Eagles are taking on a secondary Farmingdale club.

 

Across the way are St. Joes’ rivals over at Hofstra University returning home for their home weekend as well. Compared to last season, Hofstra allowed 42 goals though 14 regular season games. They’re already up to 61 goals allowed with three regular season contests left to play this weekend. Those three games are against Syracuse, Neumann and Lock Haven which rounds out their Saturday. After those games are completed, the Pride will come together with D4 Northeastern for non-conference action.

 

Three games are on tap for Yeshiva University when they take the rink on Sunday. Before getting into any regular season action, their first opponent will be Farmingdale Black in the form of non-conference play. Afterwards, the Maccabees get a taste of Temple and Lock Haven to end their day trip. Yeshiva won two of three games against Temple last season and also blew out Lock Haven.

 

Currently, the 12th and final playoff spot in D3 belongs to Boston University. Lock Haven and Montclair are their only two regular season opponents for the weekend. Outside of that, the Terriers get D4 clubs UMass and Oswego for the purpose of non-conference. Behind them is Vermont who will be unable to catch Boston in the playoff race. The Catamounts square up with Oswego and Cortland to conclude their season. Some good luck for Lock Haven and some bad luck from other teams could sneak the Bald Eagles into that 12th or even 11th place position which gets them into Regionals. It just so happens that Lock Haven has both Boston (12th) and Yeshiva (11th) on their schedule this weekend and wins against both teams could propel them into one of those spots. The club also matches up with Hofstra and Endicott in the middle of those previously two mentioned games.

 

Slippery Rock will join both Farmingdale clubs as the three Division 4 clubs that are strictly competing in non-conference games against D3 this weekend. For the Pride of Slippery Rock, their games are against Oswego, St. Joseph’s and Syracuse. Farmingdale Green will also have St. Joseph’s on their schedule including Montclair State. As for the Farmingdale Black Rams, their list of teams consists of Endicott, Yeshiva and Neumann.

 

In reality, all seven D4 teams will play at least one non-conference match against a D3 team this weekend, but the remaining four also have at least one regular season game left to play. Oswego cannot move higher than third place, but a poor weekend could see them fall in the standings. The secondary Lakers squad will face Stony Brook in their first and only regular season meeting and will look to come out on the winning side against UMass after falling by a score of 2-1 in Dracut. UMass has already taken down Stony Brook and Oswego in the second semester as round two will now commence this weekend. The Minutemen fell to Northeastern in the first semester of regular season play, but took down the Huskies just a few weeks later in non-conference. The two come together this weekend and will be Northeastern’s lone regular season game in Old Bethpage. Lastly is Stony Brook University who have lost seven of their last eight regular season games since beginning the season with back-to-back shutouts. Their two regular season games come against Oswego and UMass as the Seawolves look to move up from last place in the standings.


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