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ECRHA

Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association

Regular Season Complete

by Vincent Matula

ECRHA  February 27th, 2020 at 3:08PM  February 28th, 2020 7:17PM
Robson Stewart and Trevor Shea of UMass, Co-MVPs of the 2019-2020 All-Star Game.

 

Regular Season Complete

This past weekend, the 2019-2020 ECRHA Regular Season came to an end with teams fighting for playoff position while some players took part in the All-Star game and the other festivities as well.

 

Farmingdale State College of Division 1 took home nothing but victories in their final three games of the regular season only allowing one goal in each game. Rams players Max Halvorsen and Colin Tinschert recorded ten or more points on the weekend including their Player of the Year finalist, Joey DiMartino. Since taking over as the full time goalie in Dracut, Massachusetts, Michael Santos has allowed one goal or less in five of his six games played. Farmingdale takes off for Grove City, Pennsylvania this weekend in hopes of winning their fourth straight Division 1 Regional Championship.

 

A win over UMass on Saturday night gave Robert Morris University the number one seed in Division 2 for the first time in team history. In total, the Colonials walked away with a weekend sweep with two other victories over Northeastern and Stony Brook. All-Star Jack Clendaniel had two game winning goals and ended the regular season leading his club in goals. Cleandaniel finishes the regular season with the most points (43) by a rookie in D2 and the most power plays goals (11) in the entire NCRHA. He is one of three finalists for the Rookie of the Year award in D2 which includes teammate Vince Passante. As for their goalie, TJ Caton has been named a Goaltender of the Year finalists and has the most wins (11) and saves (305) among the remaining two nominees. Head Coach Derek Carlins is even up for Coach of the Year after taking the club from a -4 goal differential, sixth place finish and 10-8 record last season to a +33 goal differential, first place finish 12-3-1 record this season.

 

After suffering two straight losses to start the weekend, UMass secured the second overall spot with a 7-5 victory over RIT. Although the Minutemen took down West Chester and Robert Morris earlier this season, the result would not be the same this time around. Three goals on the weekend for Trevor Shea puts his regular season total at 36 goals and 57 total points. Shea finishes his regular season campaign with three times the amount of goals as teammate Owen Gallagher who is the remaining finalist for D2 Rookie of the Year. As for Shea, he is nominated for Player of the Year and will look to become the third different player in league history to win Rookie of the Year and Player/Goalie of the Year in consecutive seasons. Both Shea and teammate Robson Stewart were named Co-MVPs of the All-Star game.

 

RIT began their weekend with consecutive wins over Penn State and Northeastern, but then fell to Farmingdale and UMass. The win against Northeastern proved to be most important in separating the two teams from third and fourth place in the standings. Tigers All-Star Samuel Murray finished the weekend with 12 points while teammate Cody Zajaczkowski failed to record a goal. Despite this, Zajaczkowski had five assists to establish a new single season high of 18, matched his point total from last season (43) and was named a finalist for Player of the Year. Zajaczkowski was also crowned the fastest skater coming in at 13.48 seconds, only .24 seconds away from breaking the record. On the other side, Zachary Orcutt has been named a finalist for the Goaltender of the Year award. Along with his second straight season of being nominated as a finalist for the award, Orcutt was also named the top goaltender in the skills competition.

 

Just two games were on tap for Northeastern University that both resulted in losses against Robert Morris and RIT. Huskies All-Star’s Thomas Keith and Jason Stitt completed the regular season finishing with over 20 goals and assists as well as both players doubling their assists totals from last season. For Keith, his final stat line of 32 goals, 22 assists and 54 total points makes him the last finalist for the D2 Player of the Year award.

 

Stony Brook University was one of the busiest teams all weekend with five regular season contests. Three straight wins against Penn State, West Chester and Rowan is how the Seawolves began their weekend while they concluded with losses to Farmingdale and Robert Morris. Stony Brook All-Star’s Jason Wally and Dan Mallon each put together a solid weekend as Wally had eight points while Mallon tallied nine points. Out of all three finalists for Goalie of the Year in D2, it’s Matt Lazaro who has the lowest goals against average (3.66) and highest save percentage (.833).

 

A loss to Stony Brook really gave West Chester University a wake up call as the Golden Rams would go on to defeat UMass thanks to four third period goals and then Penn State to end their regular season. Six goals and nine total points by All-Star Nick Foster lead the way for his team which rolls into Regionals with two straight wins and the number six seed. Penn State and Rowan round out the remaining two D2 with Jett Tom of the Nittany Lions and Gerg Bernhardt of the Profs being named All-Star’s for their team. Penn State’s lone win of the weekend came against Rowan while the Profs finished the regular season with a winless record.

 

Here’s how the opening round of the Division 2 Regional Championship shakes up:

1) Robert Morris vs Winner of 4/5

2) UMass vs 7) Penn State

3) RIT vs 6) West Chester

4) Northeastern vs 5) Stony Brook

 

Scoring seven goals in each of their final two regular season games was Syracuse University. As a result of both their regulation wins, the Orange clinched the top spot in Division 3 going into Regionals. Along with their wins coming against Hofstra and Drexel, Syracuse also took down D4 Slippery Rock in non-conference play. Although neither were able to participate in the All-Star game due to a scheduling conflict, Marc Orlin and Ethan Clearfield finished as the top point scorers for their team. Syracuse Goaltender Dante Giugliano is one of three finalists this season for the D3 Goaltender of the Year award.

 

Even though Neumann University dropped three of four in their previous weekend of action, the Knights were back to their winning ways this past weekend. After surrendering a 4-2 lead earlier in the game against Montclair State, Neumann would force overtime and eventually go on to win by a final score of 6-5. It was smooth sailing after that as the Knights had three straight running clock victories against Hofstra, St. Joseph’s and Farmingdale Black (non-conference). In the process of scoring 42 goals in four games, All-Star Michael Strofe became the only player in league history to reach the 100 point plateau without including pre-season and playoff statistics. Strofe finishes as the NCRHA leader in D3 with 62 assists and 114 points and was named a finalist for Player of the Year. Joining Strofe with over 20 points on the weekend was teammate and fellow All-Star Tom Dunn. Along with his Rookie of the Year nomination, Dunn concluded his season with the most power play (12) and game winning goals (8) in D3.

 

Coming off just their second loss of the season, Endicott College got right back on track with a weekend sweep that included three consecutive shutouts over Temple, Farmingdale Black (non-conference) and Lock Haven by All-Star goaltender Stephen Richetelli. Despite finishing the season with the best goals against average (2.13) and top save percentage (.902) in D3, Richetelli was not named a finalist for the Goaltender of the Year award. Both marks also happen to be improvements from last season where he won the award. Their only game that did not end in a shutout victory was a 5-2 defeat of Cortland. Gulls All-Star Caeden Dillman had 11 goals on the weekend which included a four goal performance in the opening period against Temple. A 21 goal season by Dillman has seen the second year player triple his goal total from last season and now leads his team in points going into Regionals next weekend.

 

Oswego closed out their regular season with two wins and a fourth place finish in the division. The Lakers won against Temple and Vermont with their only loss coming in non-conference action against D4 Slippery Rock. Lakers All-Star Aidan Ryan scored a goal in each game while teammate Matthew Quast was also selected to the All-Star team. Similar to Richetelli, Quast was not named a finalist for Goaltender of the Year or Rookie of the Year despite having the second best goals against average and save percentage in D3 behind Richetelli.

 

After starting their time in Old Bethpage with two straight losses, Temple University responded with defeats of D4 UMass (non-conference) and Yeshiva. All-Star and Player of the Year finalist Nicholas Grillo capped off the regular season with a five point game against Yeshiva. In the process, Grillo also established a new single season high with 33 goals and 54 total points. Goaltender Cody Baldwin was named a finalist for the Goalie of the Year award after losing out on it last season. Baldwin concluded his regular season campaign with the most shutouts (4) in the NCRHA along with the best goals against average and save percentage among the three finalists.

 

A 6-5 overtime loss to Neumann gave Montclair State plenty of motivation for their remaining games on the weekend. The Red Hawks scored nine goals in each of their final three games of that came against Farmingdale Green (non-conference), St. Joseph’s and Boston. First year All-Star David Dziezawiec tore up the competition recording six or more points each of Montclair’s three wins totaling 23 points scored in four games played. Along with his All-Star nomination, Dziezawiec won the breakaway competition and has been nominated as a finalist for the Rookie and Player of the Year awards. His 46 goals, 43 assists and 89 points are all second most in D3 and he leads each category among the other two Rookie of the Year finalists. Teammate Jack Vogel was also named an All-Star while Ty Pezzolla is the remaining finalist for Rookie of the Year in D3. Goaltender Nicholas Camara is the third different player from the Red Hawks to be nominated for an award as he carries the most wins and saves among the three finalists. Montclair concludes their first season in the ECRHA with a 10-4-1 record and a sixth place finish.

 

Regular season matchups against Endicott and Vermont were on tap for Cortland as well as a non-conference battle with D4 Northeastern. A loss to Endicott began their weekend, but the Red Dragons responded with consecutive running clock victories. All-Star Kyle Jermyn doubled his goal total from last season and finishes this season as the leading scorer of his club. Jermyn was also the only player on Cortland to tally multiple power play and game winning goals. A head-to-head victory against Drexel earlier this season moves the Red Dragons into seventh place for Regionals. Speaking of Drexel, the Dragons had just two games on their schedule with the only regular season contest coming against Syracuse where they fell 7-0. Before that was a non-conference defeat over D4 Stony Brook by a final score of 8-3. All-Star John Gattone had two goals in that game which brought his season totals to 20 tallies and 32 points, two better than his rookie season.

 

Just one point was needed by Hofstra University to pass their Long Island rivals for ninth place in the standings. The Pride wound up grabbing two points courtesy of a 9-2 win against Lock Haven where All-Star Collin Ewald recorded three goals and an assist. Losses for Hofstra came against Syracuse and Neumann while the club also put together a win against D4 Northeastern (non-conference). Their rivals over at St. Joseph’s College failed to record a win this past weekend which slid them down to tenth place. St. Joe’s endured running clock losses against Farmingdale Green (non-conference) and Neumann which was followed by two more regulation losses to Montclair and D4 Slippery Rock. Since their opening weekend of the season in Dracut, Massachusetts, the Golden Eagles won just one regular season game (excluding forfeits) and have been shutout three times.

 

It took up until the final event of the regular season, but Yeshiva University won multiple games for the first time this season in a single weekend. Victories for the Maccabees came over Farmingdale Black (non-conference) and Lock Haven while their lone loss came against Temple. Zev Markowitz recorded a point on all but two of Yeshiva’s 15 goals during the weekend and concludes his season as the club leader in goals with 17. Boston’s 6-0 win against Lock Haven locked the Terriers into the 12th and final postseason position. Rookie Aiden Cliff had five points in that game and finished the season as Boston’s team leader in assists and points. Vermont and Lock Haven ended their season with two running clock losses each while Lock Haven added two more losses to their weekend. The teams concluded their seasons with a 2-13 record (both wins by forfeit).

 

The first round for D3 at Regionals looks like the following:

1) Syracuse vs Winner of 8/9

2) Neumann vs Winner of 7/10

3) Endicott vs Winner of 6/11

4) Oswego vs Winner of 5/12

5) Temple vs 12) Boston

6) Montclair vs 11) Yeshiva

7) Cortland vs 10) St. Joseph’s

8) Drexel vs 9) Hofstra

 

Slippery Rock’s Division 4 team strictly participated in non-conference games against D3 opponents with the team going 2-1. The Pride took home wins against Oswego and St. Joseph’s, but fell to Syracuse. Evan Gill, Matthew Vrankovich and Andrew Smeltzer were each named All-Star’s while Gill is nominated for the Player of the Year award and Smeltzer is up for Goaltender of the Year. Gill leads not only his team in goals and points, but the entire division as well. As for Smeltzer, he holds the best goals against average (1.91), save percentage (.883) and most wins (14) out of the other two goalies up for the award. Along with those players, Brandon Brubach is a finalist for Rookie of the Year. Lastly from Slippery Rock is Head Coach Anthony Constantino of their primary club who is nominated for Coach of the Year. He’s brought the team to a first place finish and has upped their goal differential to +55 compared to +7 last season.

 

With no regular season games this weekend and already locked into second place, Farmingdale Green of D4 took part in two non-conference games against St. Joseph’s (won 9-0) and Montclair (lost 9-7). The Green Rams have Dean Rotella up for Goaltender of the Year as their goalie stopped the most shots (277) compared to the other two candidates up for the award. Rams All-Star’s Joseph Salavec and Matthew Muccio-Schrimpe finish as the top two point scorers for their team going into Regionals.

Just when we thought UMass’ D4 club was out of the postseason chase, the Minutemen completed an undefeated second semester winning all five of their regular season contests. Their biggest victory of the weekend came against Oswego which ultimately helped them clinch third place. In each of their three regular season games this past weekend, All-Star Brian Blomquist tallied at least two goals and was named the first star in every contest. Blomquist ends the season as University of Massachusetts team leader in scoring along with nominations for both Rookie and Player of the Year.

 

A win against Stony Brook and a shutout defeat over Boston had Oswego rolling into their final game of the regular season against UMass. That loss dropped the Lakers into fourth place and puts them at an even .500 record of 6-6 to end their regular season. Like Blomquist, All-Star Francesco Distefano has also been nominated as a finalist for the Rookie and Player of the Year awards. Distefano’s 21 goals is the most by a rookie in D4 this season and his 32 points is tied for the most by a rookie.

 

The final two postseason spots in D4 belong to Northeastern and Farmingdale Black as both clubs played in at least two non-conference games with the Huskies getting a regular season game with UMass that ended in a loss. Consecutive 5-2 losses to UMass and Oswego saw Stony Brook’s secondary club gain no ground in the standings and ultimately eliminated them from playoff contention.

 

D4 Regional Playoffs:

1) Slippery Rock vs Winner of 4/5

2) Farmingdale Green vs Winner of 3/6

3) UMass vs 6) Northeastern

4) Oswego vs 5) Farmingdale Black

 

 

 

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