By Tyler Fennell
Staff Writer
The College’s men’s Division I club hockey team faced two challenging opponents over the weekend. The first came on Feb. 14 against the United States Naval Academy. The College lost 3-2.
The game opened with freshman Josh Kushnir scoring a goal assisted by junior Logan May. The Lions came into the second period with a 1-0 lead. However, the Navy was able to quickly respond on the power play.
May scored for the College to make the game a score of 2-1. Unfortunately, Navy would score again on the power play to tie the game, and later on score again at even strength in the third period to take the lead and win the game.
Despite the loss, there were a few bright spots in the game. The first of which was junior Michael Bussanich’s performance in net. Bussanich faced 41 shots and saved 38 of them, putting up a stellar .926 save percentage.
The other bright spot was May’s two point night, assisting on the first goal and scoring the second.
On Feb. 15, the College faced Towson University. The Lions won in overtime with a score of 4-3.
The game started with the College being down 1-0, but they quickly responded with three goals in the first period.
The first goal was scored by junior E.J. Gleie. The second goal was scored by freshman Colin Helkowski, and the final goal of the first period was scored by sophomore Nick Staudt for his first goal of the season.
The first period was dominated by the College, with the shots on goal being a lopsided 19-8. However, the rest of the game was much more evenly matched in terms of possession. Despite this, Towson was able to convert on the power play in the second period, and scored a third goal in the third period to force overtime.
May, having himself a weekend, capped it off with scoring the overtime winner against Towson. In the two games, he had three points, two of which were goals and one being a game winner.
The College dominated in total shots with 49 to Towson’s 38, largely in part to their incredibly aggressive first period offensively.
Senior goaltender Ethan May saved 35 out of 38 shots with a .921 save percentage, with both goaltenders closing their weekends with save percentages above .920 in each game.
Feb. 21 marks the quarter finals for the playoffs of the Northeast Collegiate Hockey League where the College will take on Rutgers. Despite Rutgers having a higher seeding, it is important to note that the Lions have a significantly better goal differential with a -18 compared to Rutgers’ -30.
The College’s biggest advantage going into the playoffs will be their goaltending, considering their most recent performances.
