January 29th, 2008
W&J @ Slippery Rock- CHMA Foes Battle Again
WARRENDALE, PA -- JANUARY 25, 2008 -- Most will say its tough to defeat a team three times in a season. However, the Presidents (20-10-1) accomplished that feat versus #20 ranked Slippery Rock on Friday night by the final of 4-3. In what has always been a great game to watch, W&J once again got the best of their CHMA rival. Each time for the past two seasons (5 consecutive games), W&J and Slippery Rock have battled back and forth with the outcome being determined by a lone goal. The Presidents' 4-3 win on Friday night gave them their second consecutive 20 win season.
Slippery Rock forward Tim Snyder was up to his usual ways, scoring yet another goal for the Rock to give them an early 1-0 lead off a setup from Bob Brill & freshman Wes Waldschmidt. Trailing 1-0 late in the first period, defenseman Clint Lang (4th) snapped a nice wrister from the point that found its way to twine with 2:50 remaining.
The second period began slowly but the Presidents had a different idea soon enough. W&J tallied three in the the second frame for a 3 goal cushion. Craig Frey (10th) has had a hot hand of late and a true goal scorer's goal as he crashed the net and cleaned up a Brian Doak shot on goal to give W&J a 2-1 lead. Chad Talotta (15th) scored for the Parkway Line after some nice puck distribution between Ryne Savisky and Mario Panucci.
The Presidents finished off the second period flurry with a nice rush up ice with 3:56 to go in the period. Craig Frey avoided a defender and just got a way a nice cross ice pass to a cutting Doak. Brian Doak (11th) went to the back hand and put it past the SRU goaltender for the 4-1 W&J lead.
However, like in every other game between W&J and SRU, there is no quit in either team. Tim Snyder scored twice more in the third period for the hat trick to pull the Rock within a goal at 4-3. The W&J defense buckled down and played solid in front of Senior goaltender Jed Michael down the stretch. Michael made some key saves (stopping 33 of 36 on the night) for the Presidents in earning another CHMA win for the Presidents.
The Presidents will travel to Athens, OH to play Ohio University for two next weekend on Feb. 1st and 2nd versus the #8 ACHA ranked Bobcats. Slippery Rock will next play at IUP on Feb. 1st.
Article courtesy of Justin Panucci
October 29th, 2007
Pitt Defeats #12 Kent State; Improves Record to 5-2
Pitt defeated Kent State, the 12th ranked team in the country, 4-3 on Friday night and improved its record to 5-2
including two
wins over Top 20 ACHA Division 1 nationally ranked teams.
Forward Justin Thomas put Pitt on the board early as he scored 14 seconds into the game, but Kent State quickly
responded with three first period goals. The score remained 3-1 until Nick DiSanti buried a power play goal for Pitt with 11:57
remaining in the game. Graham Cohen tied it up 33 seconds later with a breakaway goal.
For the next ten minutes the game was fairly even until Justin Thomas scored a power play goal with 2:31 remaining to
win the game for Pitt. Ed Nusser earned the win in net. He saved 44 of 47 shots including a flurry of 20 shots in the second period.
Excerpt courtesy of www.pitthockey.com
October 29th, 2007
John Carroll Knocks Off #18 Slippery Rock
John Carroll extended its winning streak to four games this weekend with a victory over
18th ranked Slippery Rock 8-4 on Friday. John Carroll’s stars included Sophomore Nick Fabrizio in net with 49 saves
and Freshman Nick Morici, who posted a hat trick.
Excerpt courtesy of www.jcuhockey.com
October 29th, 2007
Momentum Builder? W&J Defeats Pitt 4-1
Washington & Jefferson skated well and got timely goals en route to an impressive 4-1
victory over visiting Pitt at the Iceoplex on Wednesday night in a College Hockey Mid-America league game.
The Presidents started the game's scoring just three minutes in as Mike Ellis intercepted an errant Pitt clearing attempt,
skated in and roofed a nice wrister over Pitt goaltender, Ben Levy's, left shoulder. W&J skated well and outplayed Pitt
throughout the first period but the game remained 1-0. However, late in the first, W&J got the goal it was looking for as
Mario Panucci intercepted another errant Pitt pass out of the zone, skated in on a break, deked, and slipped the puck
five-hole for the 2-0 W&J advantage.
Early in the second, Pitt drew a penalty and capitalized as Pitt's Ryan Severyn scored on the power play after a setup
from Graham Cohen to cut the W&J lead in half. But once again, it was The Parkway Line that lit the lamp just a
minute and a half later to reclaim the two goal lead. This time it was Ryne Savisky, who scored from the left side with a
quick wrister. Mario Panucci began the breakout and moved the puck up along the left side to Clint Lang who spotted
Savisky with a nice lead pass.
Joe Michelucci scored the third W&J goal on the evening and the game sealer was scored with 13 minutes to play as
The Parkway Line struck again as Chad Talotta roofed a backhander into the top right corner.
Senior goaltender Jed Michael nearly played flawlessly stopping 26 of 27 Pitt shots on goal, including some sprawling
saves in the second and third periods to shut down the Pitt offense.
Excerpt courtesy of www.geocities.com/washjeffhockey
October 29th, 2007
Youngstown State Hockey Splits Weekend at Syracuse
The Youngstown State University hockey team went 1-1 this past weekend in a series at the Syracuse Orange.
The Penguins looked flat in the weekend opener Friday night, losing 3-0. YSU head coach Rocky Russo was not happy with his team’s
effort or preparation.
“Syracuse is much improved from last year,” Russo continued. “They brought in some new players and they worked very hard. They
caught us by surprise.”
Led by Kevin Pawlos’ two goals and backstopped by a 46-save performance from Matt Jacob, Youngstown State was able to rebound
Saturday evening, winning 3-1.
The split moved YSU to 3-5-2 on the season.
Excerpt courtesy of Youngstown State staff reporter Cameron Lee
October 22nd, 2007
Slippery Rock Pride Grab a Win Over Youngstown State
Slippery Rock had a slow start hosting the Youngstown State University Penquins. The Penguins Naaman
Moorman converted a power play tally 6:33 into the first period and lit up the board again just 57 seconds later as the Penguins took a 2-0
lead into the locker room.
Sixteen minutes into the second period, Pride Junior, Mike Conti, put the Rock on the board intercepting an errant pass from the Penguins
goalie behind the net and wrapping it around the other side for an unassisted mark. Sophomore, Derek Rusbarsky, converted 1:32 later
with an unassisted power play opportunity to tie the game at two a piece.
Slippery Rock took the lead half way through the third period when Nate Puntureri capitalized on a pass from Matt Lancaster and buried a
power play goal. With five minutes remaining in the game, Penquins player Zak Kusek blistered a shot from the blue line past the Pride
goalie and tied up the game 3-3. But the Pride was not finished when 1:30 later, Senior Bob Brill converted on a power play opportunity
with a feed from Senior Tim Snyder to take the lead and secure the victory for the Pride.
Excerpt courtesy of www.rockhockey.com
October 15th, 2007
Slippery Rock Pride Wins 2 at ACHA College Showcase in Rochester, NY
The SRU Men’s Ice Hockey team traveled to Rochester, NY to compete in the 5th annual ACHA (American Collegiate Hockey
Association) Division 1 showcase where 16 hockey teams from around the nation arrived to compete.
In game 1, Slippery Rock fell to West Chester 6-5. The Pride got off to a late scoring start spotting West Chester two power play and two even strength
goals before Senior Bob Brill got the Pride on the board with 1:15 left in the first period.
SRU would score three more power play goals during the second period to close the gap and register another late in the third period to pull within one goal
but with just a minute remaining in the game the Pride could not put a flurry of shots past the West Chester goalie as the match ended with Slippery Rock
losing by one goal.
In game 2, Slippery Rock defeated Michigan Dearborn 6-3. SRU Sophomore Chris Kemper lit up the board early just 49 seconds into the game. Michigan
answered back ten minutes later to end the first period tied at one a piece. Centerman Derek Rusbarsky would put the Pride up by one converting on a power
play five minutes into the second period but Michigan answered back ten minutes later to end the period tied 2-2.
With four minutes elaspsed in the third period, Tim Snyder buried a feed from Shane Smith to record a power play goal. Two minutes later the Pride were
killing a penalty when Freshman Wes Waldschmidt broke up a center ice play and blistered a slap shot from inside the blue line to record the teams first
short handed goal of the year. Five minutes later, Waldschmidt lit up the board with his second of the night. With eight minutes remaining in the game,
Michigan scored but 30 seconds later, Chris Kemper scored his second of the night as the Pride shutdown Michigan Dearborn and won the game 6-3.
Finally, Slippery Rock defeated Scranton 7-5 in game 3. Sophomore Shane Smith opened up the first period scoring ten minutes into the game. Scranton
heated up play by scoring three to end the period 3-1. In the second period, Freshman Matt Lancaster poked one in from a scrum around the net and two
minutes later, Waldschmidt tallied one. Nate Puntureri also scored to tie up the game 4-4.
Puntureri opened the third period with a power play conversion and Waldschmidt would add another. Chris Kemper then put the game away as he scored
with four minutes remaining.
Excerpt courtesy of www.rockhockey.com
October 15th, 2007
IUP Hawks go 1-1-1 at Showcase
The IUP hockey team returned home from Rochester N.Y. on Sunday evening after posting a 1-1-1 record this weekend in the
American Collegiate Hockey Association’s fifth annual Show Case Tournament.
The team opened the tournament with a 4-3 shootout loss to Arizona University on Friday after squandering 11 power play opportunities. Head Coach Dan
Hestin believes the team should have won. “There’s no doubt in my mind we should have beat them outright,” said Hestin.
The special teams play continued to be a problem for the team on Saturday as Drexel University scored four power play goals en route to a 5-4 win over IUP.
On top of the ineffective penalty killing, Hestin was quick to mention the lack of a team concept for Saturday’s game. “The team aspect of the game was left in
yesterday’s game,” he said. “We played like a bunch of individuals.”
The team finished the tournament with a 3-2 shootout win over St. Louis University Sunday morning. “Good things happened today,” said Hestin. “The team
meeting last night got everybody on the same page.”
Although Hestin was happy with Sunday’s win, the weekend as a whole was not what the coach envisioned for his team. “I’m disappointed because we should
have done better,” he said. “Looking back, the guys realize now they should have gone 3-0 this weekend.”
Getting more than one line to score would also help the team win more games. The second line of Jim Lutz, Ted Gilbert and Ben Roberston accounted for seven
of the teams’ nine goals during the three game span. Hestin put the trio together and sites Roberston’s speed, Lutz’s patience with the puck and Gilbert’s natural
scoring abilities as the reason for the line’s solid production.
“The chemistry is there,” Hestin said. “Just one of those things where you get three guys together and they click. They have produced a lot of big goals for us.”
Excerpt courtesy of Tim Bugaile at www.iuphockey.com
October 15th, 2007
Pitt Off To a 4-0 Start!
Pitt’s ACHA Division 1 hockey team is off to a 4-0 start. The latest win occurred this past Saturday when Pitt upset #16 Robert Morris 4-2.
The other victories include a shootout thriller with Youngstown State and solid performances against John Carroll and Toledo.
The team’s depth has been bolstered by the arrival of 14 new players. Offensively, several new players have stepped up as top performers. Through 4 games, Nick
DiSanti (McDowell High School) leads the team with 7 points, Justin Thomas (Shadyside Academy) has notched 6 points and 2 shootout goals including the game
winner versus Youngstown State, Graham Cohen (Bethel Park High School) has scored 4 goals, and Nate Jones (Hudson High School) has 4 points.
Defensively, Tim Davin (Bethel Park), Trevor Shaw (McDowell High School), and Cole Lukacinsky (Pocono Pirates) have provided depth on the blue line and
goaltender Ben Levy (Perinton Blades) has provided solid play in net.
The returning players have also played well. Forward Matt Lazzaro has 6 points. In addition, Captain Jeremy Wano has anchored a strong defensive core including
veterans Steven Adams and Chas Hoffmann. Lastly, starting goaltender Ed Nusser played extremely strong with 52 saves in the win against Robert Morris.
Excerpt courtesy of www.pitthockey.com
October 8th, 2007
YSU Takes Second in Battle of Ohio
The Youngstown State University hockey team opened their season with a 1-1 record over the past weekend; finishing in second place
at the Battle of Ohio tournament in Wooster.
Led by Zachary Kusek’s hat trick and Michael Stokar’s two goals, the Penguins opened with an 8-5 triumph Friday night over Bowling Green.
“Kusek was playing big, finishing his checks, and creating space for himself,” said Head Coach Rocky Russo. “When we needed him in the third period, he took
over the game and became the best player on the ice. He scored the last three for us to help seal the deal.
“Stokar scored two of the prettiest goals I’ve seen in a long time. So he showed us what he was capable of as well.”
The win vaulted the Penguins into the tournament’s championship game Saturday night against Kent State. The 13th ranked Golden Flashes were able to break
open an early 1-1 game with five unanswered goals, winning 7-2.
“We had some injuries that shortened our bench a little bit and made it difficult,” Russo explained. “We had some defensive lapses too, but Kent State is just a
good team.”
The two tournament games acted as a warm-up and gave Russo an idea of what needs to be worked on before heading into league play this weekend.
Excerpt courtesy of Youngstown State staff reporter Cameron Lee
