New York, NY -- Questionable officiating surrounded the hockey team's 9-8 win over Seton Hall University (SHU) Saturday at Chelsea Piers, with SHU's coach ejected after a second-period outburst.
Mark Edmundson drew a misconduct penalty after threatening officials with a barrage of profanity. With seconds left in the second period,the referee sent Edmundson off for unsportsmanlike conduct. Edmundson was ejected during his last visit to Chelsea Piers for his role in a similar incident.
The officials called 40 penalties in addition to Edmundson's misconduct.
"I think it's time to reevaluate the credentials of some of these officials," NYU coach Stephen Hetherman said. "They are either consistently out of position or do not allow the teams to play at the collegiate level."
Hetherman disagrees with certification procedures which allow referees to officiate at youth, high school, and collegiate hockey games.
Despite the drama, NYU managed a narrow victory, led by freshman forward Dan Perry who had three goals and two assists. The five-point performance moved Perry to 16th on the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) leader board. Perry leads the Violets with 61 points in 27 games.
"Dan has been a pleasant surprise," Hetherman said."he in tenacious and unyielding on every shift of every game and has a good understanding of the game as well as two line-mates who complement his play.
"Dan's greatest attribute is his team first approach," Hetherman said. [Individual] points are secondary to the teams success."
"Saturday's win provides NYU with two more standing points, which are particularly important as playoffs near. Hetherman said that improving player positioning and one-on-one play will help preparte for playoffs.
Junior forward Kirk Shimisuishi tied the game 1-1 with less than 11 minutes remaining in the first period, assisted by senior defenseman Jon Hsia. NYU entered the second period with a 3-1 lead after two late-period goals.
SHU's captain Chris Enrico scored his first of four goals early in the second period to cut the Violets lead to one. Perry helped NYU kill a five on three Pirate advantage by scoring a shorthanded goal on a breakaway, catching SHU players napping in the offensive zone.
Leading 9-6 late into the third period, NYU felt that a 2-goal cushion was secure. SHU proved them wrong, scoring two goals within three minutes of each other.
SHU pulled their goalie with one minute on the clock but were unable to get a shot.
The win against the 3-11-1 Pirates came after a 7-0 loss to Central Connecticut State College in Cromwell, Conn., on Friday. The loss marked the first game in which the Violets did not score this season.
NYU carried a 2-1 record out of their three-game weekend.
Perry recorded seven points while Joe Leonard notched six as the Violets shut out Johns Hopkins University (JHU) 8-0 at IceWorld in Baltimore, Md.
Goalie Jay Lee, a graduate student, stopped all 14 of JHU's shots as he posted his first shutout of the season. NYU registered 32 shots on net.
The shutout win came after a disappointing loss to Loyola College on Saturday at IceWorld. The Violets led the game 4-0 into the second period but lost their scoring and defensive touch. Lee's shut out ended with less than two minutes remaining when Loyola's Sean Llewellyn scored to start a 4-goal rampage during the third.
Loyola won the game within the last minute when Geoff Burroughs scored, embarassing NYU's power-play unit.
Lee faced 15 shots, while Loyola's goalie faced 31.
NYU side-stepped their first tie of the season against the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia on Feb. 12.
Perry scored within the first five minutes of the first period off a pass from sophomore Prentiss Noyes, boosting the Violets to a 1-0 lead. Noyes then scored a goal at 9:07 to give NYU a two-goal cushion.
Penn. cut NYU's lead to one in the second period with an even-strength goal.
With 1:06 remaining, Penn. tied the game as Paul Toor banked in a rebound from a Whit Mattews shot that got past NYU goaltender Jason Nicoll. Sophomore Jesse Belcher-Timme scored the game-winning goal with 33 seconds left.
Nicoll stopped 25 of 27 shots, increasing his record to 6-3. NYU tallied 21 shots.
This Friday the team will travel to Brewster, N.Y. to take on Western Connecticut State University and return home for back-to-back home games on Saturday against SUNY-Albany and Sunday against SUNY New Paltz. Both games start at 8 p.m.