Short and sweet, as most text messages are. The words of interim head coach Josh Hand in a text to me after the Icers' team bus had departed the Rust Arena following Saturday's thrilling 3-2 win over Delware.
The Icers, knowing full well that their post-season aspirations were on the line, played with heart, played with passion, played with guts, played with desperation and most importantly, they played as a team.
To make the win and the series split even sweeter, they won in front of a partisan crowd on the Blue Hens' alumni day. They won after the gameday staff threw a slight their way, turning off the arena lights and introducing the Icers starters in the dark before spotlighting the home side. Don't think that didn't fire up the guys wearing blue and white!
Speaking of sweet, how sweet was it for Dan Petrick to play the game he played less than 24 hours after having Delaware's game-winning goal bounce into the net off his body.
Dan's second star night started when he slammed a shot off the goal post less than two minutes into the contest during an Icers power play. Then, karma went to work with just over 8 minutes left in the opening frame.
Delaware was pressing for the equalizer after freshman and game third star Mike McDonagh opened the scoring by doing what he does best - going hard to the net.
A shot eluded Mathew Madrazo and slid toward the goal line, only to have Petrick sweep it away before it crossed the line.
Madrazo was spectacular in his fifth consecutive start, gaining first star honors by stopping 43 shots for the 8th win of his freshman season.
As I said earlier, this was a total team effort, and the guys needed that team effort after a late second period collapse that allowed the Hens to tie the game with two goals in the final two minutes.
Brian Dolan was penalized for tripping as the tying goal was scored. I haven't checked the game tape yet, so I'm not sure if Dolan was the guilty party on the delayed penalty that occurred before the Delaware goal.
The Icers killed off the final 1:52 of Dolan's minor in the third period, then battled back and forth with the Hens throughout the final 20 minutes.
My biggest praise goes to the grinders, the muckers, the lunch bucket guys who rarely get the headlines.
Just take a look at the score sheet.
Mike Longo made it 2-0 in the second by doing what he does best - going to the net and throwing shots on goal.
Mike Broccolo, inserted onto the fourth line this weekend, picked the perfect time to notch his first goal of the season, which turned out to be the game winner. In true mucker fashion, Mike banged home Nick Seravalli's rebound, again someone going to the net. See a pattern developing here folks?
The grind line of Servalli, Broccolo and Joe Zitarelli had an outstanding weekend. Not only did they execute the checking role, but they provided some offensive punch, as exhibited by Mike's game winner.
The hard earned split at Delaware should keep the Icers at least in the 11th spot in the next ranking which will be released on Friday. However, the road back to Newark and the national tournament doesn't get any easier next weekend.
The 7th-ranked Rhode Island Rams come to the Greenberg for two games that will be just as hard fought as this past weekend's contests. That even though Rhody is missing a half-dozen players who are in Turkey with Team USA.
Don't forget that Saturday's game is scheduled to start at 2:00 pm, not the usual 3:30 pm puck drop.
I'll post the highlights of Saturday's game later today, but right now it's off to work.
The Icers, knowing full well that their post-season aspirations were on the line, played with heart, played with passion, played with guts, played with desperation and most importantly, they played as a team.
To make the win and the series split even sweeter, they won in front of a partisan crowd on the Blue Hens' alumni day. They won after the gameday staff threw a slight their way, turning off the arena lights and introducing the Icers starters in the dark before spotlighting the home side. Don't think that didn't fire up the guys wearing blue and white!
Speaking of sweet, how sweet was it for Dan Petrick to play the game he played less than 24 hours after having Delaware's game-winning goal bounce into the net off his body.
Dan's second star night started when he slammed a shot off the goal post less than two minutes into the contest during an Icers power play. Then, karma went to work with just over 8 minutes left in the opening frame.
Delaware was pressing for the equalizer after freshman and game third star Mike McDonagh opened the scoring by doing what he does best - going hard to the net.
A shot eluded Mathew Madrazo and slid toward the goal line, only to have Petrick sweep it away before it crossed the line.
Madrazo was spectacular in his fifth consecutive start, gaining first star honors by stopping 43 shots for the 8th win of his freshman season.
As I said earlier, this was a total team effort, and the guys needed that team effort after a late second period collapse that allowed the Hens to tie the game with two goals in the final two minutes.
Brian Dolan was penalized for tripping as the tying goal was scored. I haven't checked the game tape yet, so I'm not sure if Dolan was the guilty party on the delayed penalty that occurred before the Delaware goal.
The Icers killed off the final 1:52 of Dolan's minor in the third period, then battled back and forth with the Hens throughout the final 20 minutes.
My biggest praise goes to the grinders, the muckers, the lunch bucket guys who rarely get the headlines.
Just take a look at the score sheet.
Mike Longo made it 2-0 in the second by doing what he does best - going to the net and throwing shots on goal.
Mike Broccolo, inserted onto the fourth line this weekend, picked the perfect time to notch his first goal of the season, which turned out to be the game winner. In true mucker fashion, Mike banged home Nick Seravalli's rebound, again someone going to the net. See a pattern developing here folks?
The grind line of Servalli, Broccolo and Joe Zitarelli had an outstanding weekend. Not only did they execute the checking role, but they provided some offensive punch, as exhibited by Mike's game winner.
The hard earned split at Delaware should keep the Icers at least in the 11th spot in the next ranking which will be released on Friday. However, the road back to Newark and the national tournament doesn't get any easier next weekend.
The 7th-ranked Rhode Island Rams come to the Greenberg for two games that will be just as hard fought as this past weekend's contests. That even though Rhody is missing a half-dozen players who are in Turkey with Team USA.
Don't forget that Saturday's game is scheduled to start at 2:00 pm, not the usual 3:30 pm puck drop.
I'll post the highlights of Saturday's game later today, but right now it's off to work.
No comments:
Post a Comment