After a tough overtime loss to Chatham to open the season, the Skidmore Thoroughbreds have raced out to a four-game winning streak including last weekend’s upset of Geneseo. Skidmore has outscored their opponents by a 17-6 margin in that span including surrendering just one goal in wins over Chatham, Wentworth, and SUNY-Canton. With the start of NEHC play this weekend, Skidmore is looking to extend their strong start to the season and show they can contend among the strong teams in their conference starting with New England College and Norwich this weekend.
“We are taking it day by day,” said head coach Rob Hutchison. “We have a really good group of players here that are focused and having a lot of fun. We are happy with the start but it is only five games and we are getting into our league schedule now where ever night is a battle. The NEHC has great teams and players, and we will find out quickly where we stack up with games against Norwich, Babson, Hobart, and Elmira all before the break. We are going to need to continue to improve to continue to get the results we want and compete in the conference.”
So far this season, Skidmore has made a lot of noise with outstanding goaltending, special teams, and balanced scoring. The power play is clicking at 40% including four goals against Geneseo last Saturday. So far, eleven different players have scored goals and the penalty kill is perfect (0-20) in the opening stretch of games. Add in the rock solid goaltending of Blaine Moore and Tate Brandon who combined have a .948 save percentage and Skidmore has all the elements for success on the ice.
“This is probably the deepest group we have had here,” noted Hutchison. “Every night it seems like we have different guys chipping in and contributing on the scoresheet. I really like our commitment to special teams. We have a lot of guys back that get a lot of minutes playing on the PK and take pride in doing that job well. Of course it always helps to have great goaltending when you are shorthanded but our special teams work hard every day in practice and it is carrying over to the games.
One of those special teamers that is flourishing early this season is center Thomas Finck who already has scored a shorthanded goal this season. Finck (3-2-5) along with fellow junior Everett Wardle (2-5-7) gives Skidmore a strong one-two punch at the center position that has helped the depth and balance of scoring on this year’s roster.
“Both guys lost their sophomore seasons to COVID but had solid freshman seasons and really continue to develop and take that next step in their development,” said Hutchison. “Thomas has a great hockey IQ and is really our Swiss Army Knife in all the things he brings to the ice for us including the PK. Everett understands the game really well, is great on face-offs and consistently is raising the game of his linemates on our first line.”
The Thoroughbreds don’t see their schedule getting easier through the semester break as NEHC play brings a host of ranked teams on the calendar and the Skidmore Invitational over Thanksgiving weekend adds potential games against Wilkes or Oswego to an already challenging first-half schedule.
“We are riding the wave of positivity right now,” said Hutchison. “We keep working and having fun and are enjoying how things have been going very early in the season. While we want to build on that, we know that tough times will come and we will need to use that positive attitude to re-focus, fix and continue to move forward so we are playing our best hockey when it is going to matter most later this season.”
Skidmore looks to improve on their 4-1-0 record in road contests this weekend against NEC and Norwich to open their NEHC conference schedule.
