The Rams ended their last home series of the semester on a high note, getting two much needed wins this weekend en route to a weekend sweep of the William Paterson University Pioneers.
On the scoresheet, the Rams dominated the Pioneers. The Rams fired 13 pucks past the Pioneers goaltenders while surrendering just one goal in two games. Those 13 goals included a team-leading 11th goal for Jonathan Alsfeld, a third for captain Filip Akermark and the first goal of their collegiate career for Tim Wolfe and Patrick Egan.
Looking beyond the scoresheet however, this Rams team still has a lot of work to do, something head coach Joe Augustine was quick to point out. His synopsis on Friday’s game came in a mere four words. “Very undisciplined, bad penalties.”
In a game that saw three players sent to the showers early, the Rams had the most egregious penalty, a “targeting the head” call on alternate Captain Jake Salisbury. The penalty saw Salisbury accessed a five-minute major and thrown out of the game. “I mean it’s a blatant elbow,” Augustine said. “We watched it on film and he got what he deserved.”
The score sheet read similarly on Saturday, with the Rams thrashing the Pioneers 7-1 to complete the sweep. The Pioneers have struggled in their first season in American Collegiate Hockey Association Division One, only winning two of their first nine games. For that reason, Augustine noted that these two wins might not be the best mil marker for his team. “I don’t think it’s a very good measuring stick,” Augustine said. “We have to play the game, we did what we had to do and we’ll move on.”
Augustine noted that this weekend didn’t have the same intensity as the previous weekend. “The weekend before, against Stony Brook if you made a mistake you were in trouble. So that’s a good barometer to see where you are, we can get with some things that we shouldn’t get away with. I know we won’t get away with them at Delaware or with Chicago.”
Augustine continued to show his frustration with his team over the weekend. He said that the second game, “was pretty much the same as far as taking bad penalties we didn’t do that, but our play was very sporadic again. Just up and down, played a couple good shifts, played five bad shifts, so we’re not getting the consistency that we want”.
The Rams will travel to Delaware this weekend to square off against the Blue Hens.