New York, NY -- The NYU hockey team is heading into its posteseason with the momentum of a 10-game unbeaten streak after shutting out SUNY - Albany Sunday night in the last game of the season.
Three minutes into the game, freshman John Giardino scored the first goal of the game. Senior Dan Perry, junior Mark Branden, freshman Justin McDermott and junior Bryan Friedman each contributed a goal. With less than two minutes left in the game, junior co-Captain Ben Maniere skated past two defenders to put a shorthanded goal in the back of the net to end the scoring barrage and boost the final score to 8-0.
"I felt like we just played a really solid game," junior goaltender Brenden Hursh said. "We were moving the puck well, we were covering our end of the field, we had a lot of shots on their goalie. We worked hard."
The Violets bombarded the Albany goal with 24 shots in the second period alone and 53 in total. Hursh saved all of Alabny's 18 shots on goal.
"[Hursh] just really stepped up and played a great game," freshman Alex Kalaf said.
In the second period, Hursh stopped a number of breakaways in order to preserve the shutout.
"We're missing a few guys because of injuries," Hursh said. "We're missing two of our best defensemen."
Co-Captain Ryan Hughes sprained his knee, Dan Nemchek also sprained his knee and continues to nurse bruised ribs, and Brian Gilmore is out with a dislocated shoulder.
"Captain America sprained his knee," Maniere said of Hughes. The players sat out in order to rest for the postseason. "He could have played but it wasn't worth it."
Miro was strong on defense and offense as well, adding two goals to the total. Junior Bryan Schleppy, usually a forward stepped up, polaying strong defense to help fill a void.
The Super East Collegiate Hockey League (SECHL) Championships begin Saturday for the Violets. Albany will have to face NYU again if it beats Montclair State University in the first round. This shutout sends a strong message to both teams.
"It gives us a big boost. We had some really good performances," Hursh said. "It was good to set the precedent and not give them any hope for the playoffs."
After a rocky start, the Violets beat Rutgers University 10-3 on Friday.
"We started off kind of slow," Kalaf said. "Then, third period we picked it up, started playing near our potential."
At one point, the Violets led by only one goal.
"All in all, it was a great game," Kalaf said. "But we should have played a better game."
"We let them get in the game at the start," Hursh said. "We played a really strong final period and blew them away."
The team is very excited for the playoffs, Hursh said,
"It's time for everyone to really bear down," he said. "We need to really get serious, focus on working together as a team."
"We've had a great year," Hursh said. "We have about three weeks left and we want to give it our all."
The Violets finish their regular season ranked first in the SECHL with a 9-0-3 record. The team finishes with a 19-1-3 overall record.
"A few guys on the team, this is their last year and we want to give them some good memories to go away with," Hursh said.