The game of the week between Elmira and Neumann lived up to all expectations. It was a closely played affair that Neumann came out on top of 1-0.
“Both teams played pretty well and had quite a few chances,” said Neumann coach Dominick Dawes. “Both goalies played well. Our team got that extra bit of finish, but both teams competed very hard.”
The lone goal was scored by freshman Michael Rey, his fourth of the season. He tallied on the power play 7:51 into the second period. Then the Knights’ game plan made the one goal lead stick the remainder of the game.
“Elmira is a team that out of the neutral zone is a very potent team,” said Dawes. “We did a pretty good job of slowing them down in the neutral zone. A lot of our shots weren’t getting second chances, which they did very well.”
Saturday’s game for Neumann didn’t go quite so well, as Hobart came to town. The Statesmen jumped out to an early lead just 2:36 into the game when Daniel Organ scored. Rey answered back for Neumann at 4:09, but then Hobart rattled off the next three goals, including a power play, short-hander, and even-strength goal, to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
“They came out and stuck to their game plan,” said Dawes. “It was your typical Hobart team that works hard. From night to night, we were two completely different hockey teams. Our level of play went way down, just us not competing.”
The Statesmen never looked back on the way to a 7-2 victory. Linemates Matthew Wallace and Greg Ciciola combined for five of the Statesmen goals. For the senior Wallace, who scored 36 goals during his first three seasons, it was his first tallies this year.
“Matthew Wallace has been playing great but wasn’t scoring,” said Hobart coach Mark Taylor. “The only one not worried about is was Wallace, though. He and his linemate Greg Ciciola combined to get it going at Neumann.”
In nonleague action, Utica gave it a go against Oswego on Saturday but couldn’t hold back the powerful Lakers team. Pioneer Steve Charest opened the scoring at 4:18 of the second period to give Utica a 1-0 lead. Oswego tied the game three minutes later and then tallied another pair in the third period for the 3-1 lead. Utica defeated Westfield State 4-1 on Friday.
After an arduous bus ride, Elmira tied Curry 4-4 on Saturday. The Soaring Eagles held three separate one-goal leads during the game but couldn’t put the pesky Colonels away.
Hobart also tied Cortland 2-2 earlier in the week. Just like Elmira, the Statesmen held two single-goal leads against the Red Dragons but couldn’t hang on to the leads.
Comments are closed.