Men’s Hockey skated past Drexel to earn the sweep in their weekend series. PHOTO CREDIT: Greg Clark
A good way to get out of a slow start to the season is by winning big at home.
The University of Rhode Island Men’s Hockey team came into their home series versus Drexel University with a 1-3 record, contrary to Drexel’s record of 3-2 and No. 21 national ranking. Friday’s game featured the Ram’s offense scoring in every period in a dominant 5-1 win in the first game of the weekend.
“I think it started off with a lot of people showing up to the game,” senior forward Griffin Long said. “We had a lot of fans at that game, and it definitely helped the boys out, seeing a lot of support on campus.”
Sophomore forward Thomas Fagan started the night off with the first goal, putting the Rams up 1-0 seven minutes into the first period. The power play, when one team goes down a man because of a penalty, was the biggest factor in the win, as the Rams scored on three of seven power play opportunities. Two goals came from sophomore defenseman Jonathon Shaw and Long added another to put URI up 4-1 after two periods.
“We had more power plays [Friday night],” Head Coach Joe Augustine on the difference in the two games. “They took a lot more penalties than we did, and we cashed in on three of them.”
Junior forward Nick Ferarro finished the game with the final goal in the third period. Nine Rams players tallied a point via goal or assist in Friday’s game, with Zachary Riccitelli scoring two points on two assists and Shaw collecting three points on two goals and an assist.
Saturday was a different story, shifting primarily to a defensive game. Sophomore goaltender Curtis Briggs got the start for URI. The Rams were in the penalty box six times, with half of them coming in the third period.
URI broke the scoreless tie in the third period after Drexel’s Anton Kozitskiy drew a slashing penalty four minutes into the period. Ferarro scored only 19 seconds into the power play, giving the Rams a 1-0 lead. Shaw and senior defenseman Jake Durocher collected assists on the goal as well.
Sophomore forward Matt Smith added an insurance goal, assisted by Fagan, to secure the 2-0 victory for the Rams.
Sophomore goaltender Curtis Briggs, who was in goal Saturday for the Rams, was impressive between the posts with a 37-save shutout, despite the numerous times the Rams were on the penalty kill.
Augustine was impressed with how his team battled on both nights against a tough team.
“Drexel’s very physical and they battled hard both nights, as did we,” he said.
Long agreed with his coach and emphasized how the win helped with team morale.
“Everybody wanted and needed that win,” Long said. “Definitely helped out the mood in the locker room.”
The Rams are now 3-3 heading into their next series at Stony Brook University. The Seawolves are coming into the series 5-1 after beating the previously top ranked team in the country, Adrian College.
“[Stony Brook is] going to be a tough opponent, but in the past years they’ve had a tendency to come out laxed against teams they believe to be lesser opponents, and we’ve definitely squeaked out wins against them in the past because of that,” Long said. “I think we’re gonna catch them flat-footed, and they’re not going to be ready for us. We know what we need to do, and we’re pretty much going to have to play a flawless game against them.”
The two-game set begins on Friday at 9 p.m., and the team will return for the series finale the following day at 5 p.m.