{"id":28615,"date":"2006-11-02T09:30:48","date_gmt":"2006-11-02T15:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2006\/11\/02\/this-week-in-the-ecac-west-nov-2-2006\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:56:40","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:56:40","slug":"this-week-in-the-ecac-west-nov-2-2006","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2006\/11\/02\/this-week-in-the-ecac-west-nov-2-2006\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week In The ECAC West: Nov. 2, 2006"},"content":{"rendered":"
Elmira and Neumann have gotten their seasons off to polar opposite starts, both against SUNYAC opponents. Neumann began by ripping off three convincing wins to start the season before finally dropping a game against Geneseo this past Saturday.<\/p>\n
The first pair of victories came at the expense of a seemingly hapless Potsdam team two weekends ago by scores of 6-2 and 6-3. The Knights played well in the first game of the weekend, but came out a little less hungry on Saturday and almost paid the price for it.<\/p>\n
“We didn’t really play all that well [on Saturday],” said Neumann coach Dennis Williams. “After getting the win on Friday, we were a little too satisfied and came out flat. I don’t think we finished a check the whole night long.”<\/p>\n
Outworking opponents is what coach Williams wants to be the hallmark of this team; it showed last Friday night when the Neumann power play went five for thirteen to thump Geneseo 6-2. The positive taken out of this game was five different Knights getting on the scorecard, compared to only five players scoring all twelve of the goals in both games against Potsdam the week before.<\/p>\n
“It is good to spread the wealth around and have more guys getting confidence,” said Williams.<\/p>\n
Even though Neumann lost to Geneseo on Saturday, a 3-1 start for the Knights is nothing to sneeze at.<\/p>\n
“I’d take it if someone told me [we’d start 3-1] before the season,” said Williams. “But we are still young, still learning, and need to play a full sixty minutes.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Elmira dropped two games to Oswego to open the season. The first game of the home-and-home series last weekend was in front of a boisterous 2,000 fans in the “Thunderdomes.” Both teams played a tight defensive game, exchanging goals in a thirty-three second span in the second period to get things going. But Elmira, in its first game of the season, ran out of gas in the third period against an Oswego team playing its third game of the season, and the Soaring Eagles ended up on the losing end of a 2-1 score.<\/p>\n
“I thought we played pretty well for the first period,” said Elmira coach Tim Ceglarski. “But for the second and third periods, I thought our legs and game shape might not have been where it needed to be for the first game of the year. Both goalies played pretty well”<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, the wheels came off the bus quickly on the larger ice surface in Oswego on Saturday, with Elmira eventually losing 5-2.<\/p>\n
“We played one of the poorest games that we have played in the ten years since I have been here,” said Ceglarski. “[Oswego] moved the puck very well, and we were chasing our tail around the ice most of the game. It clearly showed that we have some work to do.”<\/p>\n
Two different teams, two different stories entering the season, with two different sets of early results. The only thing that both Elmira and Neumann have in common so far is that neither coach is satisfied with how his team is playing.<\/p>\n
With the large turnover in rosters this season, an interesting occurrence to note is the number of transfers appearing on various teams. Neumann added two players this season, one each from Quinnipiac and Oswego. Lebanon Valley was joined by a player from St. Scholastica late last season. And other teams were contacted by various players about transferring.<\/p>\n
With the success it has had over the last several season, Manhattanville is a natural draw for players looking for a change. Players transfer to another school and team for many reasons, but most are looking for a fresh start of some kind. For the Valiants, two new players on this year’s roster are perhaps looking for more than most.<\/p>\n