New York, NY -- Linemates Ken Poulin, Paul Ginns and Tony Guglietti combined for 15 points Friday night as the hockey team improved its league record to 3-0 with a 10-3 win over STevens Institute of Technology (SIT) at Chelsea Piers.
In a game marred by 40 penalties, including four fighting majors and four disqualifications, the Violets, who also got a pair of goals from winger Tom Capotosta, dominated the slower SIT squad and exploited SIT goaltender Tom Boscia's scrambling butterfly style.
Poulin opened the scoring at 6:13 of the first period on the power play with a short side jam-in of a rebound of Eric Marin's shot from the right point. Boscia made the initial pad save, but Poulin punched on the loose puck and NYU was on the board at 1-0.
At 11:18, Poulin found himself on a two-on-one with Guglietti and served up a nice pass that Guglietti buried over Boscia's blocker for the 2-0 score.
SIT's Greg Novielli beat NYU goaltender David Chang with a deflection of a shot from the point on the power play at 15:34, but Guglietti restored the two-goal lead at 18:43 on the power play when he walked out from the right boards and lifted a wrist shot past Boscia to bring the score to 3-1 in favor of NYU.
Chang and Boscia came up big for their teams with saves on breakaways early in the second period, but NYU broke through again at 8:49 when Phil Pucciarelli blasted a slapshot from the left circle high over Boscia's houlder for the 4-1 score.
Chang was tested again at 12:49 when SIT"s Mark Chrisholm took advantage of a Violet mix-up at the blueline, grabbed the loose puck and walked in alone, but Chang made the pad save and cleared the rebound.
The Violets seemed ready to head for the locker room with a comfortable three-goal lead but, as has been the case all season, they allowed a late period goal that shrunk the margin to two at 4-2. As the final seconds ticked away, SIT's Tim Mullin and Novielli raced into the NYU zone on a two-on-one to beat the clock and Novielli scored at 19:59 as Chang was caught out of position.
Ginns and Poulin put all fears of an SIT comeback to rest, however, with goals 1:54 apart in the third period.
At the 57-second mark, Guglietti took the puck off the right boards on teh power play and fed it into the slot, where it deflected to Ginns, who put it past Boscia with a wrist shot for the 5-2 score.
At 2:51, Poulin stole the puck during four-on-four play, broke in on Boscia and was stopped, but got the puck again from Gins behind the net and tapped it between Boscia's legs to give the Violets the four-goal lead.
Capotosta displayed great athleticism at 7:00 into the third when he took a bouncing Jon Hsia pass from the left boards, stopped the puck with his skate, and backhanded it topshelf from the low slot past Boscia for the 7-2 score.
Twenty-six seconds later, the same play was reversed as Capotosta, this time at the left side of the net, took a Tim Trevathan pass from the right boards and one-timed it from the doorstep past a helpless Boscia to bring the NYU lead to 8-2.
Guglietti beat Boscia at 13:10 with a wrist shot from the left circle, and 52 seconds later, a mini-melee erupted at center ice when Pucciarelli was called for elbowing and then punched an SIT player in the back of the head. As SIT players swarmed around Pucciarelli, defenseman Gabe Roth and Trevathan jumped in to help him. Roth and Trevathan were issued fighting majors and disqualifications along with SIT's Matt Allan and Charlie Kontos, with Allan getting an extra ten minute misconduct. Pucciarelli was given a double minor for elbowing and roughing and a misconduct.
SIT capitalized on the four-minute power play that ensued as Mullin was able to beat Chang from the low slot at 16:07, but 1:15 later Guglietti scored his fourth goal of the game when he picked up the puck in the neutral zone and beat Boscia on a breakaway to wrap up the 10-3 win.
Head coach Steven Brown was understandably happy with the victory but, in the wake of the third period disqualifications which rendered both Roth and Trevathan unavailable for Saturday's game against Pace University, he questioned the team's ability to remain composed.
"The win is great, but I'm upset with the discipline on the team," said Brown. "There's no reason for guys to take themselves out for the next game. The problem is that we have such talented players, they're so into it and things heat up and guys tend to get a little hotheaded."
"But they need to start to think like elite players, and the bottom line is we can't afford to do what we did in the third period. We have to control ourselves. Sticking up for teammates is one thing, but I can't afford to have guys out," he said.
On a much more positive note, Brown cannot say enough about the team's overall improvement from last year, which he attributes to a combination of new faces in the lineup, the improved play of veterans, and the more professional, more comfortable Chelsea Piers environment.
"In our last game of the season last year, STevens tied us 7-7. This year we beat them 10-3. It just shows that the program is improving drastically," said Brown. "The upscale potential of this team is tremendous. If I can field a team that is successful on the club level, then the sky's the limit.
"This facility is great. Two games ago, Eric Marin turned to me on the bench and said, 'I love playing here.' It's like an oasis. When I'm standing behind the bench and I look out, it's beautiful."
HOCKEY NOTES- Top line point breakdown for game: RW Tony Guglietti (4 goals, 2 assists), C Paul Ginns (1 goal, 4 assists), LW Ken Poulin (2 goals, 2 assists)... Guglietti's assist on Tom Capotosta's first goal was his 100th career point... Goalie David Chang won his first game of the year... NYU outshot SIT 41-19 for the game... Disqualification rule, which also calls for a fine on the university, is similar to the third-man-in rule of the NHL, which prohibits players from joining an altercation already in progress... Defenseman Hideo Kurokawa rejoined the team after sitting out with a heart ailment... Defenseman Manech Ibar is out of the lineup with a shoulder injury... After the holiday break, the Violets' schedule resumes on December 1 at 7 p.m. at Chelsea Piers with a game against league rival SUNY New Paltz.
Editor's Note: Saturday's action against Pace University will be updated in an upcoming edition of the WSN.