By Gavin Lindahl
Staff Writer
The men’s hockey team opened its season last weekend in a pair of tight losses. The Bonnies fell 4-3 Friday night at home against RIT and 5-4 against Cortland on the road Saturday night.
Senior captain defenseman Taylor Rosenberg said despite the losses, the team played good hockey in both games.
“We skated hard, controlled the puck, were able to score a decent number of goals and our goalie, Nick Gregorio, played really well,” Rosenberg said. “We are a hard-working, young and fast team.”
Rosenberg pins the team’s success in the opening two periods on playing fundamental hockey both nights, something he said the team got away from in the third period on Friday and Saturday.
“We have had leads going into the third period in all of our games, but we have lost both,” Rosenberg said. “Instead of basic plays including shots and rebounds, we tried to do too much with the puck and lost valuable opportunities on offense.”
Rosenberg said penalties played a role in the team’s third period collapse Saturday night.
Sophomore defenseman Billy Weltzer said the team has been playing with maximum effort front-to-back, despite the team’s current record.
“Both teams were able to hold us off in the third,” Weltzer said. “But we didn’t stop fighting – we played extremely hard.”
According to Weltzer, one player who has been working hard and playing well every shift was rewarded Saturday night. Junior center Jake DiGello’s hard work paid off when he scored a breakaway goal.
“I was able to bounce-pass the puck off the boards to DiGello, and he did the rest,” Weltzer said. “A lot of speed got him the breakaway, and his hands did the rest.”
The rest of the team has been chipping in offensively as well. Senior Mike Felter grabbed a pair of assists against RIT, senior Sean Perhacs netted goals in both games and senior Mike Iulianello picked up a goal and an assist.
Fans contributed to the team’s mental success by coming out in large numbers to support the team last Friday night, according to Weltzer.
“Having a big crowd was huge for our home opener,” Weltzer said. “It is so much better to play in front of your friends and family, and it means a lot to have people out there supporting you.”
The team is still experimenting on who plays with who this season, according to Weltzer.
“We’re really trying to find our groove with lines and d-pairings,” Weltzer said. “We’re all great players, but chemistry is such a huge part of hockey that having the right lines is key to success.”
In addition to lines and d-pairings, the team has also been prepping for a physical game from Binghamton at home tonight 8:30 p.m. at the William O. Smith recreation center in Olean.
“I know they added a few good players who can definitely put the puck in the net, but they like to bang bodies, too,” Weltzer said. “They play a gritty, bang-you-up kind of hockey like us – it should be a good one.”
Following their home game tonight, the team will hit the road tomorrow to face Oswego. It’ll be a grind, according to Weltzer.
“We have to leave Bonaventure around 7 a.m. to drive up and face a great team in Oswego at 1 p.m.,” Weltzer said. “It’ll be tough, but I have faith in us to be able to walk out with two wins – it’s all about execution now.”
