By Taylor Nigrelli
Assistant Sports Editor
The hockey team (4-5) tries to bounce back from an 0-2 weekend when they take on the Cornell Big Red (2-10) Saturday at 8:30 p.m in the William O. Recreation Center.
In the season opener, the Bonnies defeated the Big Red 3-2 in a shootout. Junior defenseman Mike Felter believes the Big Red will come out with a greater effort after losing so closely in October.
They’ve had a pretty poor record so far, but they took us to a shootout,” Felter said. “They know they can play us close, so they’re probably going to jump on the opportunity to get a win.”
Freshman Mike Griffin also said he expects the Big Red to be a tough matchup.
“Cornell is going to come out fast, just like they did in the first game,” Griffin said. “We’re expecting another close game.”
Freshman Andrew Chadwick believes the crowd could be a major asset in helping the Bonnies earn a second win over Cornell.
“Big fan support could be huge for us,” Chadwick said.
The Bonnies head into the Cornell game on a two-game losing streak. The Brown and White fell to Binghamton (6-3) Friday 6-4 before being blown out by Syracuse (7-3) 11-3 Saturday.
At Binghamton, the Bonnies were tied at four with just over six minutes left in regulation. Then, officials called a penalty on freshman Derrick Jester for hitting from behind. The Bearcats scored on the ensuing power play and soon added another goal.
According to Felter, injuries played a role in the late-game struggle.
“I think we were all-around rattled,” Felter said. “(Sophomore) Rob Maust went out with an injury. (Junior) Sean Perhacs went out with an injury, so we were down guys and we just lost any idea of how we were supposed to play.”
After playing a relatively close game (4-1) at Syracuse in October, the Bonnies fell behind early Saturday. The Orange scored four goals in the first period and never looked back. The Bonnies were able to score a few late goals but still lost 11-3.
Freshman Jake Piegay was impressed with Syracuse’s effort Saturday night.
“They’re a very good team,” Piegay said. “They work the puck very well, and they’re just playing at a different level than most of the teams we’ve faced.”
Felter believes the Bonnies short bench was a factor in the severity of the loss. The Bonnies lost a total of seven players to injury and game misconduct.
“We can never blame the refs for anything that goes wrong, but we didn’t get a single power play that whole game,” Felter said. “That was the way we played though, that was our fault. The first time we played them we had a full roster, but it’s impossible to compete when you’re missing that many guys.”
Griffin said the team needs to be more disciplined.
“We need to keep our cool every game we play,” Griffin said. “You’re not going to win games when you’re playing five on four most of the game.”
This year’s team is younger than in the past, as freshmen comprise over a third of the roster. According to Piegay, the upperclassmen have taught him a lot about transitioning into the college game.
“Guys like Felter, Iggy (Mike Iulianello), (Josh) Popsie and Perhacs are great role models to me,” Piegay said. “They show us what we need to do and how we need to do it.”
Griffin agreed the upperclassmen have been beneficial to his development.
“The upperclassman are very encouraging and want to help us get better,” Griffin said. “They are always helpful during practice and games and keep a positive attitude.”
As an upperclassman, Felter believes it’s important to help the freshmen look forward after a 0-2 weekend.
“Don’t dwell on the past,” Felter said. “We’re going to forget about it. We won’t see either of those teams again, so there’s nothing to worry about there. We only have one game a weekend for the rest of the semester, so we just have to focus on each one of those games.”
