Men’s Hockey stuffs Stonehill over Thanksgiving

WILLIAM SNAPE IV ’18

SPORTS EDITOR

It has been a quick start to the season for Men’s Hockey, having played four games in the past 11 days.  The Bantams hosted their home opener at Koeppel Community Sports Center last Friday Nov. 20 against Tufts.   Having lost to Tufts in the NESCAC quarterfinals last season, the team was eager to start the season with a statement win.  The first period was quiet, with no goals coming from either side, but not for a lack of shots: Trinity net-minder Nathaniel Heilbron ’16 faced seven shots, and Trinity’s offense mustered 11 shots on goal.  Just under two minutes into the second period, Trinity went on the board first thanks to an Ethan Holdaway ’17 goal off an assist from Ryan Cole ’17. Tufts answered with under a minute remaining, only to have Trinity answer right back with nine seconds left off a penalty shot to enter the final period with a 2-1 lead.

Trinity outshot Tufts by a margin of 12-4 in the third period, but Tufts opened up the scoring in the final period off an unassisted goal from Oliver Takacsi-Nagy.  Sam Johnson ’17 put away the game winner with just under 15 minutes remaining, and the Bantam defense held out to secure a 3-2 win over Tufts.  Despite playing nearly one third of the game a man down, Trinity still put on a shooting clinic, putting up a staggering 39 shots to Tufts’ 19.

The following day, the Bantams hosted Connecticut College in a match that did not yield the same intensity as the game against Tufts.  Again, it was a slow start with no goals scored in the first period, but Sean Orlando ’17 scored the first two goals of the game in the second period to take a 2-0 lead heading into the third.  Connecticut College scored midway through the third period, but it would prove to be too little too late, and the Bantams took the game 4-1.

After a week of rest, Trinity hosted Stonehill in their third match of the season.  This game was even more of a blowout than the last, with several players contributing in the win.  Trinity scored six unanswered goals to put the game completely out of reach for a comeback to start the third period.  Brendan White of Stonehill made the final score line look a little less lopsided as he scored with about three minutes left in the period.  Trinity’s TJ Sherman ’17 answered almost immediately to end the game at 7-1.

Trinity hosted Salve Regina University the next day, and started the game off quickly, as Elie Vered ’16 knocked a one-timer past the Salve Regina keeper just 31 seconds into the game.  In the second period, Marc Biggs of Salve Regina scored two goals within two minutes of each other, both off of power plays.  Penalties would prove to be the downfall for Trinity is this game, as they committed nine penalties, which amounted to 42 minutes of short-handed play.  After a full period of back-and-forth plays in the second, the game was tied 4-4 with 10 minutes left to go. However, Salve Regina closed the game out with two unanswered goals to take the game 6-4, and hand Trinity their first loss in their last eight games.

It’s a frustrating loss, but there is still a lot of hockey to be played this season and the team is looking ahead to rebound quickly. They will be away this weekend as they take on Hamilton on Dec. 5, and Amherst Dec. 6.