A Team makes Division II Nationals!
Drexel to be in St. Louis!
ECRHA March 30th, 2007 at 7:07PM February 24th, 2014 1:17PMDrexel is going to St. Louis to compete for the Division II National Championship!
Taken from the Drexel Triangle (part 1, 3/2/07):
The roller hockey club knows how to play. The team has been nationally
ranked in Division II play for weeks, and they go into this weekend's
regional championship with a chance to earn a spot in the NCRHA
National Tournament. Optimism is running high throughout the
organization.
"Our goal for this year was to make nationals," head coach Bob Raynor said. "We got really close last year, and we felt we deserved better than we got. In the end, our play didn't prove that. This year, we are much improved, a much more consistent team."
The team was consistent enough to be ranked all season by the Independent Rankings Committee, and is currently No. 10. There is stability in the talent level throughout the club, as the B team is ranked No. 12 in the nation in the B rankings, and they have been ranked as high as fourth.
Both teams will be playing this weekend in the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association Regional Championships which are to be held at the Sportsplex in Feasterville, Pa. They will play the games March 2-3 in a round-robin format to determine who gets to go to the national championship in Saint Louis. First for the Division II team is the defending national champions, Neumann College.
"We lost against the national champs in regionals [last year]," Raynor said. "We have a lot of good veteran leadership this year. We fully expect to compete well and possibly win regionals."
Winning would be a tall order against the Neumann Knights. They are 17-0-1 this season and riding a 33-game unbeaten streak, the longest in the history of the ECRHA. They have held the No. 1 ranking in the country for most of the season. But the Dragons have the best chance of any team in the regional championships to dethrone the Knights.
The senior-laden Drexel squad boasts three players who play professionally. Justin Brennan, Van Nguyen and Bill Sherwood all play for the Marple Gladiators of the Professional Inline Hockey Association.
"Our goal for this year was to make nationals," head coach Bob Raynor said. "We got really close last year, and we felt we deserved better than we got. In the end, our play didn't prove that. This year, we are much improved, a much more consistent team."
The team was consistent enough to be ranked all season by the Independent Rankings Committee, and is currently No. 10. There is stability in the talent level throughout the club, as the B team is ranked No. 12 in the nation in the B rankings, and they have been ranked as high as fourth.
Both teams will be playing this weekend in the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association Regional Championships which are to be held at the Sportsplex in Feasterville, Pa. They will play the games March 2-3 in a round-robin format to determine who gets to go to the national championship in Saint Louis. First for the Division II team is the defending national champions, Neumann College.
"We lost against the national champs in regionals [last year]," Raynor said. "We have a lot of good veteran leadership this year. We fully expect to compete well and possibly win regionals."
Winning would be a tall order against the Neumann Knights. They are 17-0-1 this season and riding a 33-game unbeaten streak, the longest in the history of the ECRHA. They have held the No. 1 ranking in the country for most of the season. But the Dragons have the best chance of any team in the regional championships to dethrone the Knights.
The senior-laden Drexel squad boasts three players who play professionally. Justin Brennan, Van Nguyen and Bill Sherwood all play for the Marple Gladiators of the Professional Inline Hockey Association.
Brennan has been the starting goaltender for the last two seasons for
the Dragons, and he owns a 25-14 record as the netminder of the first
team. Sherwood, playing in his seventh season with Drexel, leads the
team in goals and points this season with 36 and 49, respectively, and
Nguyen is tied for second on the team with 28 points.
"[Sherwood] is easily one of the top five or ten players in the league," Raynor said. "He is definitely the leader of the club, and he plays that way, too."
The captain of the team, Steve Duffy, has been another key player as a four-year starter at defenseman, and he is in his second season as the captain.
"He is one of the better defensemen in the ECRHA," Brennan said.
No matter what the team does in the tournament, the club will thrive for years to come because of a strong core of student support from within the organization.
"We would like to continue to grow the club and continue to get players from the tri-state area," Brennan said.
"We're the largest club sport at Drexel," Raynor said. "We want to try to attract players and fans. I think we're an exciting group to watch play. We play with passion.
"Drexel roller hockey is known throughout the league as a tough, hardnosed club that plays well and is tough to beat."
"[Sherwood] is easily one of the top five or ten players in the league," Raynor said. "He is definitely the leader of the club, and he plays that way, too."
The captain of the team, Steve Duffy, has been another key player as a four-year starter at defenseman, and he is in his second season as the captain.
"He is one of the better defensemen in the ECRHA," Brennan said.
No matter what the team does in the tournament, the club will thrive for years to come because of a strong core of student support from within the organization.
"We would like to continue to grow the club and continue to get players from the tri-state area," Brennan said.
"We're the largest club sport at Drexel," Raynor said. "We want to try to attract players and fans. I think we're an exciting group to watch play. We play with passion.
"Drexel roller hockey is known throughout the league as a tough, hardnosed club that plays well and is tough to beat."
(part 2, 3/9/07)
For the first time in club history, Drexel's
Division II team, playing in the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey
League, has received an invitation to play in the Ninth Collegiate
Roller Hockey Championship. This national tournament, which will
feature the top roller hockey teams in the nation, will be played April
4-7 in St. Louis, Mo.
Coming into last weekend's tournament at the Sportsplex in Feasterville, Pa., Drexel was ranked 10th overall and hoping to improve. During the round-robin matches, Drexel competed for a seed in the elimination rounds. In their first match, Drexel played No. 1-ranked Neumann College. Although Drexel was able to match Neumann goal for goal for the majority of the game, Neumann was able to squeeze in a few last-minute goals against Drexel goaltender Justin Brennan to take a 5-2 win.
After the game, coach Bob Raynor told the team, "This is your chance. It's either win or go home. Since this is already our home rink, we might as well win."
Coach Raynor's words of inspiration had a positive effect, as Drexel came back the following morning to triumph over Millersville and SUNY Brockport and earn a No. 5 seed in the tournament. However, in the quarterfinal round, Hofstra came back hard in the third period to overcome a four-goal deficit and defeat Drexel. Because of their fine play in the tournament, Drexel's rank in the ECRHA jumped to No. 5 - earning them a spot in the NCRHA National tournament, as well as earning national rankings for Bill Sherwood for goals, and Justin Brennan for wins and saves.
In addition to the Drexel Division II team making nationals, it is also worth mentioning Drexel's accomplishments in the Philadelphia Collegiate Roller Hockey League, in which goaltender Jimmy Heisler and defenseman Luke Kwiecinski were voted onto the PCRHL All-Star Team. Drexel forward Scott Oskin and defender Donnie Bielak were named as alternates to the squad.
Coming into last weekend's tournament at the Sportsplex in Feasterville, Pa., Drexel was ranked 10th overall and hoping to improve. During the round-robin matches, Drexel competed for a seed in the elimination rounds. In their first match, Drexel played No. 1-ranked Neumann College. Although Drexel was able to match Neumann goal for goal for the majority of the game, Neumann was able to squeeze in a few last-minute goals against Drexel goaltender Justin Brennan to take a 5-2 win.
After the game, coach Bob Raynor told the team, "This is your chance. It's either win or go home. Since this is already our home rink, we might as well win."
Coach Raynor's words of inspiration had a positive effect, as Drexel came back the following morning to triumph over Millersville and SUNY Brockport and earn a No. 5 seed in the tournament. However, in the quarterfinal round, Hofstra came back hard in the third period to overcome a four-goal deficit and defeat Drexel. Because of their fine play in the tournament, Drexel's rank in the ECRHA jumped to No. 5 - earning them a spot in the NCRHA National tournament, as well as earning national rankings for Bill Sherwood for goals, and Justin Brennan for wins and saves.
In addition to the Drexel Division II team making nationals, it is also worth mentioning Drexel's accomplishments in the Philadelphia Collegiate Roller Hockey League, in which goaltender Jimmy Heisler and defenseman Luke Kwiecinski were voted onto the PCRHL All-Star Team. Drexel forward Scott Oskin and defender Donnie Bielak were named as alternates to the squad.
The Triangle Online: The Student Newspaper for Drexel University,
Good luck guys!