New York, NY -- Returning to home ice the night before Halloween was all treats for the hockey team.
The Violets snapped a four-fame losing streak with a big third period, defeating Bryant College 3-1.
Minor penalties on both NYU and Bryant late in the second period made each team start the third period with four-on-four play. Sophomore Tom D'Agostino took advantage of the open ice, breaking free from the Bryant defense and scoring a breakaway goal that put NYU up 2-1.
That was all the Violets needed, but it was not all they would get. Bryant grew increasingly frustrated with NYU's lead on the scoreboar and dominance in posession as the Violets won multiple face-offs in the Bryant zone.
With 15:10 left in the game, graduate defenseman Sam Stechmann gathered a loose puck off one of the face-offs and went five-hole, putting the puck between the goalie's legs and into the back of the net.
Sophomore goaltender Brian Kenney did his part to make the lead stand. While NYU was in the midst of a line change, Bryant pushed the puck forward to a wide-open player on the opposite side of the ice. Kenney knocked the shot away, and with it, the last real scoring opportunity for Bryant.
NYU closed the game the way it began, keeping the puck in the Bryant zone and hammering the goal. Throughout the first period and most of the second, however, Bryant's goaltender seemed up to the challenge. After a scoreless first, the Violets opened the second period with a breakaway followed by a two-on-one opportunity. Neither one was successful.
Ironically, it was a soft shot from far out by freshman defenseman Evan Rand that somehow found its way into the net. That goal tied the game and gave the Violets something to show for two periods of good chances unrealized. It also sent them to the third period with a tie, a good sign for a team that often steps up its play in the last 20 minutes.
"We just take the game back toward the end," senior captain Scott Zimmerman said.
The Violets are hoping they have now taken the season back as well. Next week begins a stretch of games in nine days, all against fellow members of the Super East Collegiate Hockey League.
Three of those games will come at home at Chelsea Piers' Sky Rink, where the Violets are undefeated. But first the team must travel to fellow league leader Montclair State University Saturday.