Northeastern University Huskies
The Northeastern Huskies finished the first semester with a
perfect 10-0-0 record. They put three solid wins in the last event of the
semester in Long Island. The biggest win came on Friday night against a solid
DII contender, Queens College, with a 5-1 victory. With two solid netminders,
John Harris (Pleasanton, CA) and Jackson Betro (San Francisco, CA) and two
players with twenty-plus points, Robert Lerro (Boston, MA) and Matthew Toy
(Moorestown, NJ), the Huskies are looking to be a strong favorite going into
the second semester. Division II dominance will prove when the Huskies take on
the undefeated Pittsburgh Panthers.
UMass-Amherst Minutemen
UMass Amherst finished the first semester with a 7-1-2
record, second in the Northern Conference. Their 6-3 win over the University of
Delaware Fightin’ Hens to cap off a 3-0-1 record for the weekend in
Feasterville, PA. The Minutemen are lead by Corey Bauman (Dix Hills, NY) with
sixteen goals and twelve assists and Jonathan Aprile (Glen Head, NY) with
twelve goals and four assists. Along with these two playmakers, the Minutemen
two goaltenders put up solid numbers recording a combined .862 save percentage.
Look for UMass to battle for the top spot in D2.
Boston University Terriers
The Boston Terriers finished the first semester with a 2-2
record in Long Island, capping off their 6-5-0 record. In that weekend the
Terriers fought off the Royals of Scranton in a 3-2 battle. Leading the
Terriers in points is Kevin Robitaille (Milford, CT) with five goals and seven
assists, along with him, Steven Strohlsahl (Smithtown, NY) has netted six goals
and helped out on five. The Terriers have a long battle to finish a top DII and
earn a playoff berth.
SUNY Albany Great Danes
The Albany Great Danes ended their first semester on a high
note with a 12-0 victory over Millersville, to tall their record to 5-6-0. Leading
goal scorer, Nicholas Vitale (North Massapequa, NY) netted a goal and an assist
to add to his totals of seven goals and twelve assists. Goaltender, Matthew
Grieco (Roslyn, NY), helped out in the victory by posting twelve saves and a
shutout. The Great Danes are looking to rebound off their first semester and
use that big win to rally to the playoffs.
University of Vermont Catamounts
The
Catamounts of Vermont are looking to bounce off to a slow 3-8-0 start. Two of
their three wins were decided by just one goal. Leading the Catamounts is the
tandem of John Brabant (Adamant, VT) and Jason Fish (Potomac, MD) both netting
seven goals and tallying four assists. The Catamounts have battled hard in each
of their games, skating close with perfect 10-0 Northeaster in a 7-4 battle.
Vermont has proved they can skate with the top seeded teams and is looking to
pick up some big wins in the second semester.
University of Pittsburgh Panthers
The Pittsburgh Panthers are another perfect 10-0-0 team
heading into the second semester. The Panthers are lead by the two leading
scorers in DII, Nathan Gerger (Jeannette, PA) with eighteen goals and thirty
four assists and Carlin Crombie (Irwin, PA) with twenty nine goals and eighteen
assists. With this powerful offense the Panthers have outscored their opponents
84-13. Goaltender Dan Cordle has an 8-0 record with a 1.25 GAA and .905 save
percentage, both good to lead DII. The most anticipated game of the season will
be coming up when the Panthers take on the Northeastern Huskies.
Slippery Rock University Pride
The Slippery Rock Pride have had a rollercoaster ride first
semester. In their first event they outscored their opponents 25-2 going 3-0
while in Lemoyne, PA. After that event, the Pride were feeling strong going
into the Sportsplex in Feasterville. They knew they could really prove their
dominance with a win over Queens, a respectful contender in the DII race. The
game ended in a draw while the Pride’s netminder, Christian Ricketts
(Coraopolis, PA), posted 21 saves in the shutout, earning the well deserved
first star. Ricketts has posted a league leading three shutouts throughout the
first semester. Slippery Rock’s scoring is lead by Ryan McGeehan (Grove City,
PA) with twelve goals and nine assists, and Just Barie (Pittsburgh, PA) with
fourteen goals and four assists. The Pride finished with a strong 6-1-3 record
and look to continue to put up those numbers in the second semester.
University of Scranton Royals
In the Royals only three wins, they outscored their
opponents 20-7, however in their seven losses they have gotten outscored 46-9.
They ended the semester on a high note with a 6-1 victory over Vermont.
Goaltender Thomas Marino (Endicott, NY) recorded seventeen saves, while posting
a .944 save percentage and earning the second star. The Royals scoring is lead
by Andrew Clarke (West Hempstead, NY) with ten goals and two assists and CJ
Murray (North Babylon, NY) with seven goals and three assists. Scranton is
looking to rebound in the second semester with a possible run at the playoffs.
Shippensburg University Raiders
The Raiders lone win came against a strong Cornell side in a
5-4 battle. Shippensburg forward Austin Andrews (Leola, PA) led the charge with
a hat trick to earn the first star. Bobby Lee (Narvon, PA), the Raider’s
standout goaltender, posted thirty two saves with a .889 save percentage and
earning the second star. Along with Andrews’ eight goals and three assists, the
Raiders’ scoring in led by Tyler Leary (Delran, NJ) with twelve goals and five
assists. The Raiders are hoping to pick up some more wins in the second part of
the season, after a 1-8-1 start.
Millersville University Marauders
Millersville has had a troublesome first half of the season.
Their highlight of the season thus far came in Lemoyne, PA against
Shippensburg. Despite only have six skaters, the Marauders skated to a 7-7 tie
against the Raiders. Zach McHale posted three goals and two assists to lead the
team to a tie. The team’s scoring is lead by Michael Bonaskiewich (Plymouth
Meeting, PA) with nine goals and one assist, and McHale with three goals and
three assists in just six games. The team is going to take their losses and
hope to build on them for the second part of the season.
SUNY Binghamton Bearcats
The Binghamton Bearcats had a strong first semester, strong
enough to put them a top Division II with 22 points. They sit atop Pittsburgh
and Northeastern, both of which are flaunting 10-0-0 records, the Bearcats are
three games ahead of both of them. The Bearcats also went out of region and
played out in Grandview Heights, PA. The Bearcats put up an astronomical 21
goals in three games while just allowing four. The Bearcats conquered
Cincinnati, Purdue, and Miami (Ohio), this will help the ECRHA when the
Nationals committee picks their teams for the Tournament. The Bearcats’ biggest
games of the regular season came against Umass and Queens, where they picked up
two ties. If they want to make a deep run into the playoffs they need to pull out
some wins.
Queens College Knights
After winning Division III in the 2010-2011 season, Queens
started their first season in Division II strong with a 5-2-3 record. In their
opening weekend in Broomall, PA, the Knights scored seven goals in each of
their games, going 3-0-0 for the weekend. Stephen Ferguson (Astoria, NY) led
the Knights in the first semester with twelve goals and seven assists.
Goaltender Joshua Krantz (Bayside, NY) posted two shutouts, one coming in a 0-0
draw with Slippery Rock in Long Island. A long with his .878 save percentage
his GAA sits at a solid 2.90. The Knights are looking to pick it up and catch
the leaders of DII in the second semester.
University of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
The Fightin’ Blue Hens of Delaware have had a rollercoaster
first semester. Despite their 4-6-2 finish, five of their six losses have been
decided by three goals or less. One of those losses was a 6-5 defeat against
undefeated Northeastern. Gerard Gallo (Wilmington, DE) netted two of his
fifteen goals in that game. Along with his fifteen goals, six of which were on
the power play, he helped out on ten, totaling twenty five points in the first
semester. Both Delaware goaltenders posted save percentages over .800%. Backup
goalie, Zach Pertes (Newton, PA), won his only two starts of the season. If
Delaware wants to make a run for the playoffs, they need to capitalize on their
close games and finish strong.
Drexel University Dragons
After a four game losing streak to start the Dragons’
season, Drexel picked up their first win against Albany in a 7-1 effort. Ian
McEwing (Cape May, NJ) led the charge with a two goal and one assist effort, while
John Kundrat (Lemoyne, PA) added one goal, totaling thirteen goals and three
assists for the semester. The Dragons did not finish strong after the big win,
losing their following three games but picking up a win against Shippensburg
and rummaging a tie versus the Blue Hens of Delaware. Drexel must skate hard
and turn it around if they want a shot at making the playoffs.
Cornell University Big Red
Cornell’s
lone win came against a struggling Drexel team, topping them 4-2 out in
Broomall, PA. Bryan Finneran (Powell, OH) posted twenty four saves and a .923
save percentage, earning the first star. Leading scorer, Kenneth Bogart (St.
James, NY) netted a goal and helped out on two, making his total for the
semester twelve goals and five assists. Cornell did finish their semester
strong with a 6-6 tie against a heavy favorite Slippery Rock squad.
