The University of Rhode Island’s men’s club hockey team competed in the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League Playoffs this weekend, beating the University of Pittsburgh before being knocked out by the University of Delaware.
Early on in the first period of game one against Pitt, URI crashed the net, and first-year forward Cam Cyr put the puck into the back of the net to give the Rams a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the period.
Six minutes into the period, URI quickly made work of its power play, as third-year forward Shane Mulhern put one in the net off a faceoff to give the Rams a 2-0 first period lead.
Pittsburgh was able to shrink URI’s lead with a little over a minute to go in the first period on a goal from third-year forward Josh Hrip. It would remain that score for the rest of the period, and Rhode Island would head into the intermission up 2-1.
As things turned over to the second period, it would be the Panthers striking first, as first-year forward Drake Tomak ripped a wrist shot past Rams fourth-year goalie Callum Burgess to even the scoreboard at two.
Rhode Island would not take Pitt’s goal lightly, as they got back out in front when Pittsburgh could not pass the puck out of its zone, resulting in Mulhern’s second goal of the game. The goal gave the Rams some new momentum as they now had a 3-2 edge.
The Panthers were able to hit one home when Tomak scored on a two-on-one, matching Mulhern with his second goal of the game and once again making the score even at 3-3.
As the third period got underway, URI struck first when Cyr scored his second goal of the game, putting the Rams back out in front 4-3. Later on in the period, URI capitalized on a Pitt penalty, scoring a power-play goal from third-year forward Ethan Cordeiro to make it 5-3. Rhode Island put the game on ice when Mulhern completed the hat trick on an empty-net goal to win it 6-3.
The Rams survived and advanced; they would take on top-seeded Delaware next on Saturday with a trip to the ESCHL Championship on the line.
In the first period of game two, the Blue Hens got a goal from third-year forward Justin Guelph to take a 1-0 advantage. That’s all the scoring that would take place in the period, as the game remained tight through the period.
In the second period, URI found itself in penalty trouble. Following the penalty, Delaware got a goal from fourth-year forward Ryan Rodrigues to make it 2-0. Rodrigues added another power-play goal; the floodgates were starting to open up as the Blue Hens now led 3-0 on URI. Rhode Island was able to hold off Delaware and stop them from scoring more, but it was dealing with a big deficit on the scoreboard.
In the third period, the Rams got a goal on a bizarre play. On a delayed penalty, Delaware’s goalie went to the bench, and a Delaware player passed it to his teammate, except he missed the pass, and the puck went down the ice and into the Blue Hens net. The goal was credited to Burgess; in a strange turn of events, the Rams were on the scoreboard.
That’s all the Rams would score as Delaware piled on for three more goals to finish this game with a 6-1 victory. The loss marked the final game for URI’s seniors; however, their contributions to the team’s development and success didn’t go unnoticed by their head coach.
“Our seniors are the core of our team,” URI Head Coach Joe Augustine said. “Their dedication and loyalty to their teammates and to our program played an important factor in the development and success of our team.”
Augustine discussed some of the adjustments in mindset that URI had to make throughout the season.
“We had to learn to execute our system and manage the game situations,” Augustine said. “We had to realize that our off-ice workouts were important for our performance on the ice.”
The Rams will look to continue to build off this run to the semifinals as they head into the offseason.
