Division 1 Fall Recap

If you want to watch incredible roller hockey with the chance of a highlight reel play, a miraculous upset, or incredible scoring, just stop by for any ECRHA Division 1 matchup this Spring. If Fall 2016 was any indication for how this year is going to pan out in D1, we have a long road ahead of us to finding not only a regional champion, but eventually a national champion as well.

Currently atop the standings of Division 1 this year is the 2016 D2 National Champion, the Massachusetts Minutemen. The Minutemen have played at an unreal level this past Fall, seeming to pick up right where they left off last year. UMass’ only two losses this year have come to 3rd place Farmingdale. Since, they were the first team to end Neumann’s regular season winning streak. Last year’s D2 goaltender of the year Jordan Davis is continuing to see everything coming his way, and it has led to more great success for the Minutemen. Davis is currently posting a 2.8 GAA, and a league leading 89.2 Save percentage. If Davis continues seeing the puck as well as he has, and Ryan Dougherty can continue his scoring streak, UMass will be a force to be reckoned with, and we may see a new D1 regular season champion for the first time since 2012-13.

Due to their head to head loss, the Neumann Knights are in 2nd in the D1 standings. Led by the scoring of Tyler Kraft once again, Neumann had their regular season winning streak snapped by UMass in November. They then lost their second game of the season November 19th against Farmingdale. However, it may be a blessing in disguise for the Knights. The streak is over, and now all that’s left to focused on the regional and national championship.

In 3rd due to tiebreakers currently is the Farmingdale Rams. Farmingdale is certainly a force to be reckoned with yet again this year. After being eliminated by Neumann in the National Quarter-Finals Farmingdale’s 3 losses so far this year have come against West Chester (twice) and Neumann. One thing for Farmingdale to limit going forward would have to penalty minutes. Farmingdale currently sits at 83 penalty minutes. With two games against Hofstra, two against Robert Morris, and one each against Temple and Rowan, Farmingdale has an opportunity to win out and with a slip up by UMass or Neumann, they could benefit their seeding for Regionals.

 

Probably the surprise team of the year is 4th place West Chester. Last year, after finishing 6-12, the Golden Rams are at 7-2-1 and cruising this season, with 2 wins against Farmingdale, and two of their three losses being by one goal. To being their Spring semester, West Chester will be heading to Ballwin, MO for inter-regional play where they will face off against UMSL, Bethel, Lindenwood, and Mizzou. All of which will be a great measurement for the rest of the season, and better help the Golden Rams prepare for the second half of ECRHA play, and the possibility of bettering their seed and securing a position heading into Regionals.

Rowan University sits in 5th place in D1, and if you are playing ‘by the numbers’ is winning the games needed to win to have a successful year. Rowan has wins this year against West Chester, Hofstra (2), RMU, and Cortland. What will be the true test for the Profs will be the Spring semester. In the Spring, Rowan faces all but 2 teams which are tied or below them in the standings. If Rowan hopes to stay alive in the Regional race, they will need to make sure they handle business and don’t allow for any slip ups going forward.

The last team hanging onto a regional spot is Rhode Island. Rhode Island, currently 5-4-1 is 3 points ahead of 7th place Robert Morris. The Rams also currently hold the head to head tiebreaker with RMU, with a game yet to play in the season series. The biggest note to take away from Rhode Island’s Fall semester has to be their penalty kill. The Rams have successfully killed of 7 of 8 penalties (88%) which has lead to some pretty decisive victories. Rhode Island has given up the 2nd most penalties in the division, which is a cause for concern, but if they can limit their opponent's shots to the perimeter, and continue their scoring pace, they may find themselves holding on and sneaking into the Regional championships.

The first team on the outside looking into the playoff hunt is the Robert Morris Colonials. RMU currently is 4-7-1, with one more game played than Rhode Island as they have some catching up to do. However, of course, as is the common theme in all divisions across the ECRHA, it’s far from over. RMU’s loss of goaltender Harrison Wayne and forward Brad Bogus has shown to take a hit both offensively and defensively for the Colonials. Goaltender Jacob Cowie has done a great job so far this season with 233 saves, and Defensemen Dan Trunk has continued his scoring tear from last year in Division 2, as he currently sits tied for 2nd in the scoring race, with 30 points.

Temple, in 8th place at the end of the Fall, is 3-6 and has cooled off after their hot start in Grove City. Since October, Temple has lost 6 straight games. One thing that the Owls do have in their favor is that they have only played 9 games so far this season, which gives them a game in hand over Rhode Island, as well as 2 games in hand over Rowan and RMU. It will be interesting to see if the Owls can find the groove that they were in to start the season, because if so, they could surprise quite a few teams in the Spring, and possibly, find themselves in the Regional championship tournament.

The Red Dragons of Cortland finished 2nd in the D2 National Championship last year, this year, with the loss of a few key players, they are struggling to find their footing after being moved up to Division 1. Cortland is 1-8-1 on the season, and looking to find any motivation to turn the season around. It is not going to be an easy task however, with Neumann and West Chester on the schedule twice, Cortland is going to have to figure out what went wrong in the Fall quickly, as well as hope for some massive help if they plan to see any postseason play.

Hofstra is now in 10th in the division, at 1-10, the Pride are simply just having difficulty finding the back of the net. With 17 goals scored all season long, Hofstra is averaging 0.64 goals per game, which simply isn’t going to win you games, especially against the quality teams of the ECRHA. Most of all, it is important for Hofstra to focus on the fundamentals of the game to start to find success again in Division One. In their sole win of the season against Cortland, Hofstra played even with the Red Dragons throughout the 1st and 2nd period, then, as the 3rd period started, the Pride found themselves scoring early in the period, and holding off the Red Dragons to win the game. If Hofstra can remain close in some of their games this Spring, they could surprise some teams that may end up taking them for granted. The longer a team like Hofstra can stay in a game, the most dangerous of a team they’ll become later down the road.

The race to Regionals is really just getting started in Division 1. Neumann’s winning streak is over, Tyler Kraft is continuing to chase his own scoring record, and UMass and Farmingdale are trying to dethrone the Knights of Neumann. If our Fall semester taught us anything, it was that anything can happen in the ECRHA, and that is just what we will look forward to in the Spring Semester as we inch closer to the ECRHA Regional Championships, and the NCRHA National Championships.