New York, NY -- The NYU ice hockey season began with a bang at home after Sunday's 4-2 victory over the University of Pennsylvania Quakers. "Other schools watch out, NYU's on the prowl," said forward Kristopher Marsh, a freshman, after the home win.
Marsh's warning may not fall on deaf ears after the team won its first two games of the season, which kicked off Friday against Rider University.
To add a splash of ceremony to the opening home game of the hockey season, Vice President of Student Affairs Marc Wais was invited to drop the first puck.
"We hope that students will support sports and the facilities that NYU has created for them," Wais said. "We need to show students that the sports are there for them to enjoy. It is a challenge for students, as there are so many away games, but with so many options, I think students have plenty of opportunities to participate."
The first period was marked by one goal for each team in under a minute. The Quakers scored first, with junior Brad McGann of NYU answering seconds later.
For the rest of the period, both teams played hard defensive hockey. Tensions were high as players made strong checks, resulting in a number of fights. Despite plenty of power plays for each side, no more goals were scored until the final period.
The third period brought double the number of goals as the first. NYU scored twice in two minutes, with defenseman Brian Gilmore, a senior, and forward Drew DeWitt, a junior, responsible for the first and second goals, respectively. The Quakers were able to lessen the difference by one but NYU, making a late game offensive run, brought the lead back to two with a goal by forward and assistant captain John Giardino, a junior.
NYU's defense created a brick wall after Giardino's goal, and the game ended with a 4-2 win for the Violets.
The players and coaches seemed pleased with the performance of the revamped hockey team, which lost Ryan Hughes, arguably its best player, to graduation last year and brought on nine freshmen players.
"We're taking a different approach this year," Head Coach Lloyd Polanish said. "We've got three strong lines, and in the third period, no one can handle us."
"We played well tonight," said captain Daniel Nemchek, a senior. "We've got new kids, young kids. It'll take a while to get together as a team, but we're doing it."
But there is still room for improvement, the new captain said.
"Our defense needs to tighten up and get our players to play together better on penalty kills," Nemchek said. "However, you take baby steps, then you learn to walk and it's full speed ahead."
NYU began the season auspiciously Friday, beating out Rider University, 3-2. Veteran players Matt Weindel, a junior, and McGann led the scoring, Weindel with two and the other by McGann.
The second period brought Rider's first goal and two more NYU goals, one by Giardino and another by graduate student Sam Stechmann. Rider came back in the third period, tying the game 6-6, but NYU topped off the match with four additional goals to finish off Rider 10-6.
While NYU played an all-around strong game, goalie Brian Kenney had a standout performance. Kenney, a freshman, played his first college-level game and altogether made 40 saves out of 46 shots on goal.
NYU's next game is at Penn State University on Friday night. The next home game will be Sunday against Lafayette College at 4 p.m.