New York, NY -- It may not have been on their minds, but the NYU hockey team avenged last year's playoff loss to County College of Morris on Saturday.
Forwards Todd Portadin, Jesse Belcher-Timme, Marc Branden and defenseman Vinny Bruce each scored two goals as the Violets defeated the Titans 12-1 in front of a packed house at Chelsea Piers' Sky Rink.
From the opening faceoff, the Violets dictated the tempo of the game. They skated with authority, threw hard body checks and pestered Titans sophomore goalie Tom DiScala with shots from all over the ice. NYU put a whopping 50 shots on goal and the special teams were perfect. NYU freshman goaltender Zach Ciperski only had to make 15 saves.
"CCM is a different team now from what they were last year but that really shouldn't matter," said Violets assistant coach Michael Guglietti. "The team has to play every game the way they played tonight."
The Violets were treated to not only the numerous County College fans and NYU parents, but also about 150 students from the Thomas Hardye School from Dorchester, England, who were on hand to witness their first ever hockey game. They displayed enthusiasm and excitement for NYU throughout the game.
"We really fed off the energy of the crowd," said sophomore defenseman and co-captain Brian Murphy. "It's always a thrill to play in front of fans with such excitement."
The Violets' play was marked by consistent forechecking, cycling and good puck possession in the offensive zone. The Titans defense did its best to hold off the NYU forwards, and DiScala made some impressive saves, particularly against the line of sophomores Dan Perry and Joe Leonard and junior Jeremy Steinhaus.
Belcher-Timme got NYU on the scoreboard just over a minute into the first period, finishing off a crisp passing play from freshman forwards Bryan Schleppy and Joe Vaculcik. Schleppy later beat DiScala with tough angle shot from the left faceoff circle, and quick goals by Portadin and Branden gave the Violets a 4-0 lead by the end of the period.
County College was credited with a goal to open the second period after a miscommunication between Ciperski and his defensemen resulted in Bruce accidentally directing the puck into the NYU goal/ But the Violets continued their onslaught as the Titans' defensive play broke down in their own end. Freshman forward Michael Tanella, Bruce and Portadin each scored goals on DiScala's stick side, exposing his weakness in handling backhanders. Tanella received a feathered pass from Perry at the blue line and beat DiScala at 12:23 of the second. Two minutes later, Bruce picked up the puck in his own zone and made an end-to-end rush before scoring on the same side. Portadin duplicated Bruce's move a minute later.
"I saw Vinny skate in on the left wing and score with a backhand," Portadin said. "When he came back to the bench, I said that I was not only going to do the same thing, but I'm gonna do it better." Belcher-Timme added his second goal of the game in the second, lifting a backhander in the top corner past a sprawling DiScala. Sophomore Dan Perry and freshman forward Bryan Friedman picked up rebounds from point shots from Bruce to continue the scoring before Bruce beat DiScala cleanly with a slapper from the right point. Branden capped off the scoring in the last minute of the second with his second goal of the game.
With its 12-2 win over Suffolk Community College on Sunday, NYU (20-2-1) now heads to Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference Championships as the top-ranked team. They open up against Seton Hall on Saturday, Feb. 26 at Chelsea Piers. The Violets defeated the Pirates 15-5 on Feb. 12.