New York, NY -- In a game overshadowed by penalties, the NYU ice hockey team defeated William Paterson University 5-3 Friday night at MacKay Ice Rink in Englewood, N.J. Coupled with Manhattan College's forfeit of Saturday's game at Chelsea Piers, the Violets are now 6-0
NYU was shorthanded 15 times throughout the game, while the Pioneers were called for only nine penalties. However, the Violets allowed only one power-play goal, and were able to score two shorthanded goals.
"I thought overall the defense played well and the special teams were outstanding," said sophomore defenseman and co-captain Brian Murphy, who scored his second goal of the season in the win. "With our team being shorthanded for half of the game, it makes it very difficult to score. However, we did get two shorthanded goals by [sophomore forward Todd] Portadin and [sophomore forward Dan] Perry. When a team gets goals like that it means we are all playing hard and playing within the system."
NYU started out the game slowly, and four minutes into the first period, they fell behind for the first time this season. A poor defensive play left sophomore goaltender Chad Ehrenkranz screened and unable to stop the puck after making three consecutive saves, and Paterson's Ryan Barone put the Pioneers up 1-0.
Despite the lackluster period, the Violets were still able to outshoot the pioneers 15-2. However, they were not able to break through against Pioneer goaltender Frank Zhan.
The second period proved to be more successful, as the Violets began to produce offensively. Two minutes in, freshman forward Ben maniere got a pass from freshman forward Mark Branden and evened the score at 1.
Later in the period, NYU had the penalty killing unit out on the ice, as freshman defenseman Josh Fisher was in the penalty box for slashing. However, it was the Violets who capitalized instead of the Pioneers. Perry rushed the puck up the ice and passed it to Portadin, who scored NYU's first shorthanded goal and put the Violets ahead for good.
"The first period we came out slow," Murphy said. "But we finally warmed up for the second and took control of William Paterson's mistakes to score four goals in the second."
Late in the period, the Violets had a power play of their own, as the Pioneers had two men in the box. NYU took advantage of the five-on-three, as Murphy converted a pass from Portadin and sophomore defenseman Vincent Bruce to put the Violets up 3-1. They made it 4-1 as freshman defenseman Ryan Hughes set up Perry for NYU's second shorthanded goal.
The Violets increased their lead to four in the third period, as freshman forward Joe Vaculcik slid a shot past Zhan. The Pioneers responded wit two late goals, but they were not enough to overtake the Violets.
Ehrenkranz stopped 29 or Patterson's 32 shors, several of which were key saves that kept NYU close in the first period.
"Chad played outstandingly throughout the entire game," Murphy said. "He really kept us in the game and made some difficult daves and came up huge for us in the first period when the team came out slow."
"He was there to make three of four saves in a rowe, which is something no goalie should have to do. Without him in net, we would have had a very difficult time winning."
The Violets will travel to take on the University of Rochester on Friday, and will return home Saturday to play Temple University.