Division 2 Fall Recap

New faces are appearing at the top of the D2 standings and showing that although some may be new to D2, they are not to be slept on moving towards the end of the season. Division 2 is probably the most diverse division as of the end of the Fall semester in the ECRHA, however, that by no means indicates that it is smooth sailing to the Regional Championships for some of these teams.

Yeshiva University currently sits atop the Division 2 standings at 9-1 with 18 points. The Maccabees are only in their second year in the ECRHA, however that is not slowing them down from making a strong impression. Yeshiva’s sole loss came to the hands of Northeastern in Old Bethpage, NY in November. Aside from their slip up against Northeastern, Yeshiva has been battling all season long. Their journey to first in the standings has not been a smooth one, as 7 of their 10 games have been decided by 3 goals or less. If Yeshiva can continue winning the close games, they will be able to safely stay atop the D2 standings, however, with a slip up or two, they could be right back in the mid of teams jostling for postseason positioning.

In 2nd place currently is the Northeastern Huskies. The Huskies are in division 2 after being dropped down from division one previously, and they are seeing success. Led by league leading goaltender Brendan Pearlman, the Huskies currently are 8-2-1. Their losses coming via an upset by Boston University, a 2-4 loss to Stony Brook in Rhode Island, as well as a 2-3 overtime defeat to the hands of the 1st place Yeshiva Maccabees. Northeastern has done an excellent job at maintaining discipline and a slow paced, methodical approach to division 2, which has helped them find success against some of the high caliber scoring teams throughout the division. It will be interesting to see if Pearlman can continue to stand on his head and help the Huskies return to the National Championship picture.

The Stony Brook Seawolves are in third place at the end of the Fall Semester. After a hot 5-0 start (excluding a non-regional loss to Akron) Stony Brook was dealt their first loss of the season to Northeastern, 3-7, in Old Bethpage. They would bounce back that weekend with a win over Villanova, to then have another setback against Endicott, 1-6. Stony Brook currently is tied for the most penalty minutes in D2 at 52 PIM, If the SeaWolves can find a way to limit their time in the box, they could eliminate a lot of stress and worries in their games.

Sitting in 4th in the standings is additional newcomer, the Endicott College Gulls, who currently are at 7-3-1. Endicott, who is being led by D2 leading scorer Corey Eisenband, are scoring lots of goals, but also taking lots of penalties. Endicott started the season at 0-1-1 after back to back losses to Northeastern and Stony Brook. The Gulls then rattled off 4 wins before losing to 1st place Yeshiva in Old Bethpage. Endicott then won 3 games in Feasterville before losing the last game of the semester, again to 1st place Yeshiva. However, the story for Endicott so far, is Eisenband, who currently sits atop the scoring charts with 41 points in 11 games. In second behind him, is Nick Melvin of Northeastern with 28 points, so Eisenband has a healthy lead. Be sure to keep your eyes open to see if he can maintain the substantial pace and maintain the D2 scoring lead, while leading Endicott into Feasterville for the Regional Championships.

Penn State University is a team that has struggled with consistency for the last few years, and 2016-17 is no different. The Nittany Lions have bounced back and forth in the winning and losing column throughout the season, and have ended up on the positive end. Currently at 6-3-1, Penn State is 5th in the standings. Looking ahead for PSU, they have 4 games against teams below them in the standings, and 4 games against teams above. If the Nittany Lions can win the games they “should” win, they could be returning to Feasterville. If they can add in an upset or two along the way, the outlook could look even brighter for the Nittany Lions.

At the end of the Fall Semester, the Oswego Lakers currently sit in the 6th and final spot to regionals. At 5-6, Oswego is a game below .500, but, still ahead of 7th place Villanova. The Lakers have helped themselves out twice this year, beating Villanova once in overtime to start the season, as well as 5-4 November 19th in Feasterville. One thing that sticks out for Oswego is their power play, currently operating at 18.8%. If the Lakers want to make a serious run this Spring, they need to start capitalizing on the man advantage. Looking ahead for Oswego, all but 2 of their Spring games are against teams above them in the standings. Which puts them in a similar boat as Penn State, if they can correct their evident mistakes from the Fall, and grab a few unexpected wins in the Spring, they can greatly help their seeding for the Regional Championship.

Just outside of the playoff bubble is Villanova. Villanova is a team that has been so close, but oh so far away, all season long. At 3-6-2, one may think things are going tough for the Wildcats, however, if you take a look at the schedule. Villanova has lost every, single game, by 3 goals or less, which is insanely unfortunate. The Wildcats have the potential to beat any team in Division 2, if they can manage to stay out of the penalty box as well as improve their power play, we could see the Wildcats knocking one of the current teams out of the playoff hunt.

Currently sitting in 8th in the D2 standings id Delaware. The Blue Hens are 2-6, but are far from out of Regionals contention. Both of Delaware’s wins have come against Oswego, which is worth noting, because if the Blue Hens can string together a few wins, and with a little luck on their side in the Spring, those two wins could play a crucial role in Delaware returning to the Regional Championships in March. It’s also worth noting, that Joe Rosmini of Delaware has 22 points in 8 games for the Blue Hens, the second highest average in the league. If Rosmini continues his scoring pace, the Blue Hens are bound to put more wins on the board in 2017.

Behind Delaware in the standings is 9th place Boston University. The Terriers currently sit at 2-8, and are just having incredible trouble finding the back of the net. In 10 games this season, Boston is averaging only 1.9 goals for per game. Compared to even their own team last year which averaged around 3.33 goals per game. Although, don’t count Boston out just yet, although they only have 8 games left on the schedule, if we have learned anything, the season isn’t over until it’s over, and Boston is just the type of team to turn things around.

And rounding out Division 2 is the Drexel Dragons. Drexel has had an unfortunate year wins wise, currently at 1-8-1, However, 6 of their 8 losses have been by 3 goals or less. So many close games in which the Dragons were just a few breaks away from a win, and their season could be dramatically different. The end of the season has potential for Drexel however, as they have 5 games against teams not currently in the top 6. If Drexel can find a way to limit their turnovers and stay out of the penalty box and avoid giving points to the team’s nearby them in the standings, the Dragons could turn their season around quickly in the Spring.