Senior forward Andrew Ide tallied his first assist of the season in a win Friday against Navy. PHOTO CREDIT: Siobhan Richards
The University of Rhode Island’s Men’s Ice Hockey team extended their winning streak to five games this past weekend after sweeping the U.S. Naval Academy in a two-game series at Boss Ice Arena.
The scoring began in the second period when freshman forward Andrew Ide found fellow forward Dennis Engelson to put the Rams up 1-0. Sophomore Kevin Kanaczet added to that lead later in the period when he scored his first collegiate goal.
All of the Rams’ power play chances came in the third period as Navy was sent to the penalty box four times. An interference penalty on the visitors opened the opportunity for junior Jacob Kelly to score his first goal of the season on the power play to make it a 3-0 game.
Briggs had another strong performance between the pipes for the Rams, recording his second shutout of the season. He saved all 26 shots the Midshipmen threw his way.
“Our goaltending, our defensive play has been pretty good,” Rhode Island Men’s Hockey Coach Joe Augustine said. “Every night there’s someone different stepping up, whether it’s offensively, defensively or in the goal. Pretty much been a good team effort so far.”
Saturday’s matchup was much more of a battle between the two teams.
This time around, freshman Callum Burgess got the start for the Rams in the goal. However, after playing for most of the first period, Burgess had to leave the game due to an equipment issue, according to their official Twitter account, thrusting Briggs into the starting role for a second straight game.
Right before the end of the first period, Briggs would make a sensational glove save to keep the game scoreless.
The Rams opened the scoring midway through the second period when junior Jacob Kelly passed the puck to fellow junior Nick Ferraro on a 2-on-1 breakaway to give URI a 1-0 lead.
Mimicking this, the Rams scored their second goal after sophomore Jonathan Shaw passed it to senior Griffin Long to score on a back door shot.
Navy got a goal with 16 seconds remaining in the game, but it was too little, too late. Rhody closed it out and came away with the weekend sweep.
“We just stayed together as a team, it was a close game, but no one really worried about the game,” Ferraro said. “I think we knew we were well off, and we just worked hard throughout the whole game.”
Augustine also spoke on how impressed he has been with his team’s play as of late.
“I think we’re playing better hockey than we did at the beginning of the year, and that’s what you want; we want to keep improving,” Augustine said.
The Rams next game will be at the Chicago Showcase against the University of Illinois on Friday. From there, they will either play Minot State University, Adrian College, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Liberty University or Davenport University on Saturday and Sunday of the three-day tournament.
“I’m excited,” Ferraro said. “We’re keeping track of what Illinois is doing, and they’re having a great season, probably the best team we’ll play this far,” Ferraro said. “But I think we’ll be able to shock some people.”
The puck drops Friday at 7 p.m.