New York, NY -- After Friday's 7-2 trouncing of William Patterson University (WPU) in Englewood, N.J., the ice hockey team returned to their home ice at Chelsea Piers on Saturday night where the SUNY-Stonybrook Seawolves proved to be rude guests, slaying the Violets 11-6.
Seawolf forward Steve Micolanda opened the score sheet with a goal at 4:29, but the Violets quickly responded with two goals in a 22-second span. NYU sparked a 3-on-1 rush culminated by sophomore Prentiss Noyes beating Seawolf goalie Greg Christopher off a Nasser Dassi pass. Freshman Joe Leonard worked behind the net, dishing the puck to classmate Dan Perry in the slot, who buried the puck for the early lead. SUNY's Nick Muro knotted the score less than a minute later on the powerplay. Senior Paul Leakas served only six seconds of an interference minor before Muro beat NYU sophomore Mike McDonald.
The clubs see-sawed into the second period with three lead changes until SUNY threw down the gauntlet and posted five consecutive goals. Before the Violets could take a breath, the Seawolves turned a 4-3 defecit into an 8-4 lead.
"When you score six goals and still get blown its a frustrating game," senior defenseman and tri-captain John Hsia said. "A lot of things went wrong. We had a lot of defensive breakdowns. They flew through the neutral zone."
NYU mangaged only onepowerplay goal in nine opportunities as Christopher and back-up Peter Amurata combined to stop 42 Violet shots. McDonald stopped 26 of the 37 he faced, but his defense must provide him more support.
"He's an inexperienced goaltender that made some great saves, but he also let some trickle by that probably shouldn't have gone in," Hsia said.
NYU highlights included consecutive three-point nights from Perry and Hsia. Perry scored two goals and helped on the games final score after doing the same the night before. Hsia recorded three assists after lighting the lamp and assisting on two other goals against WPU.
SUNY forward Alex Trezza overshadowed the Violets with a six-point performance. His third period goal combined with five assists, three in the second period alone broke NYU's back.
"The guys work hard every night," Hsia said. "Sometimes the puck just doesn't bounce your way. If we don't play together, we're going to lose. If a guy busts his butt on the forecheck, it creates turnovers and then scoring opportunities. Hockey is the ultimate team sport. If the five guys on the ice aren't skating hard, it isn't going to happen."
It happened on Friday as NYU pasted WPU with six straight goals before the Pioneers answered 1:50 into the third period. the NYU defense only yielded 19 shots, and McDonald met all but two of them like a stone wall.
"Those guys are pretty undisciplined," Hsia said about WPU. "All you have to do is go in and play positional hockey, skate hard, and you're going to win."
Perry posted two shorthanded goals and neither required an assist. His second period shorty came from a breakaway when he shot, swallowed his own rebound, and buried the puck.
"Joe [Leonard] and Dan are great players," Hsia said. "If they keep working they'll come to understand this league. It's a little cheap. Some of the guys are inexperienced and that leads to mistakes."
Junior forward Kirk Shimizuishi netted a goal in each game this weekend, but he is still not up to the par he enjoyed as a sophomore or even this season prior to a head injury that required him to miss a number of games. Shimizuishi led the Violets with 52 points a year ago, but is sixth on the stat sheet this season.
"Kirk is not putting the puck in the net as much as he should, but the kid's got the best skills of anyone in the league," Hsia said. "He's fast, he's strong, he's got a laser for a shot. Sometimes when he comes in the zone he takes himself out of the play."
With a Wednesday tilt at Riverbank State Park versus metro rival Columbia University, Shimizuishi and company have a chance to get back on track. A roadwarrior schedule faces the Violets after they face the Lions. Friday takes them to Philadelphia to skate with the University of Pennsylvania Quakers and then it's off to Baltimore. Once they hit the Inner Harbor they'll face off against Loyola College and conference rival Johns Hopkins University. As for Columbia, the Violets are not worried.
"They're a pretty weak team so we should spank them," Hsia said.
If the team can win the balance of their league games, plus make a statement during this weekend's road trip, the Easter Collegiate Athletic Conference playoffs may be on the Violet horizon.
"Once you reach the playoffs the season starts all over again," Hsia said.