By Mike Specht
Staff Writer
The St. Bonaventure hockey team (6-8) is set to host the Ithaca Bombers for senior night at 8:30 p.m. at the William O. Recreation Center in Olean.
The Bonnies anticipate a tough Night game from the Bombers, according to junior forward Sean Perhacs.
“It’s become a rivalry over the past few years; it’s always been a tough, physical game.” Perhacs said. “It should really be a close game against Ithaca, one we’re always looking forward to.”
Junior co-captain Mike Iulianello stressed the importance of the game against Ithaca.
“Ithaca is fighting for the same spot in the postseason that we are,” Iulianello said. “Emotions will be running high, especially for a home game for us.”
After the match against Ithaca, the Bonnies will travel to Rochester for a game against RIT (4-17). The Bonnies fell to the Tigers Nov. 30 by a score of 5-3. Iulianello believes RIT is a team the Bonnies will be able to defeat.
“Last time we were overconfident, and they stole the win from us,” Iulianello said. “We need to skate hard from start to end and play consistently in order to get the win.”
The Bonnies head into tonight’s game after splitting last weekend’s matches, falling to Canisius in a shootout, while defeating SUNY Cortland in the final seconds of regulation.
Junior co-captain Taylor Rosenberg attributes the Canisius loss to the team’s semester break.
“We’ve only skated two times before the game; a month is a long time to go without skating, especially on a competitive level,” Rosenberg said. “We also struggled in our defensive zone, and had a lot of opportunities to score that we missed out on.”
Freshmen John Rogers, Andrew Chadwick and Mike Griffin rounded out the scorers for the Bonnies while Iulianello, sophmore Jake DiGello and Kyle Crawford recorded assists. Freshman Derrick Jester recorded the only shootout goal for St. Bonaventure.
Last Saturday, the Bonnies defeated SUNY Cortland 5-4. The Bonnies exchanged the lead with Cortland multiple times. Down 3-2 in the third period, the Bonnies scored three goals, with the game winner from Rosenberg with only seven seconds left in regulation.
“We really played physical against Cortland, especially in the third period,” Iulianello said. “I think we had four solid lines, which led to two power play goals and one shorthanded goal.”
Perhacs said the Bonnies had more speed against Cortland.
“We didn’t coast through the plays, and came all the way back into the game,” Perhacs said.
Perhacs, Chadwick, Jordan Ashman, Iulianello and Rosenberg all scored, with assists from Iulianello(4) Thomas Meka(2), Rogers, Eric Hostetter, Perhacs and Rosenberg.
“All in all, we played consistently,” Iulianello said. “Everyone did what they needed to achieve the victory.”
