Columbus Day Event Recap

The ECRHA was proud to start another season of college roller hockey last weekend with the annual Columbus Day Event. Teams from across the northeast were in attendance to register for the season and get in some game before the season starts. There were two new clubs on hand, Baruch and Niagara, despite not winning a game, each teams looks as if they will be competitive all season. Additionally, two clubs were introducing B teams for the first time. Both Northeastern and Slippery Rock added B teams, and they went a combined 6-0-0 on the weekend, a pretty impressive debut.

 

In Division I action, Neumann University was the talk of the rink as they annihilated the competition, going 3-0-0 and more impressively outscoring their opponents 24-4. This weekend should be a big test as they will square off against Temple and West Chester, two Philadelphia area rivals who will be gunning for the league title.

 

Another DI squad that has a good opening weekend was Rowan, going 2-1-0, with victories over Brockport and Towson in close fought contests. Rowan showed they still have a ways to go to be considered among the elite, dropping a 10-2 decision against West Chester.

 

Only one new squad will be making their debut this season in DI as national runner-up in DII, Pittsburgh, started the season in DI for the first time since 2008-2009. Things started great for Pitt as they handed defending regional champion West Chester a 7-5 defeat, before being turned aside by Neumann 7-0. The final game off the weekend against Temple ended in a 3-3 tie, but eyes were opened by this squad and their ability to challenge the upper echelon of DI.

 

Division II action this weekend was highlighted by a trio of new teams, including Cortland, Niagara and Oswego. Cortland was the most impressive of the three new squads, going 2-1-0 to open preseason play. Despite two lopsided victories over Cornell and Binghamton, their inexperience showed in a 10-0 drubbing at the hands of Northeastern.

 

Northeastern enters the season with national title aspirations and they came out to prove it. After finishing the weekend and one of three undefeated squads, Northeastern looked unstoppable, outscoring the opposition 29-3 in 3 games.

 

Mid-Atlantic Conference teams Slippery Rock and Delaware also finished the weekend unbeaten. Delaware turned aside Umass (3-2), Vermont (12-7) and Cornell (6-2), while Slippery Rock skated past Binghamton (6-3), Umass (8-7) and Albany (6-1).

 

Niagara, in their first weekend of competition as a club played very respectable, but failed to come home with a victory. Despite losing all three games, Niagara was in every contest and just came up short against Albany (7-5).

 

Division III was short three teams this weekend as Loyola, Scranton and Lehigh were all at home, but the four teams who competed showed this division is wide open. Ramapo finished the weekend with the best record at 2-0-1, but only finished with a +3 goals differential.

 

Baruch, playing in their first weekend in school history played very well, despite coming out of the weekend without a win. After dropping a close game to Shippensburg (5-2), they rallied for a tie against Syracuse (6-6). They finished the weekend off with a close defeat against Ramapo (3-1). Now that Baruch has experience and finally played some games, expect them to be right there in the thick of things in DIII.

 

In the B Division, it was a pair of new squads that laid a beat down of the division on opening weekend. Both Northeastern and Slippery Rock went 3-0-0 on the weekend. West Chester, two-time national runner-up finished the weekend 2-1-0, showing that despite not being the top dog in the division anymore, that they can still challenge for the league title. This should be an interesting race to watch throughout the season.