The Red Hawks defend the puck.
Photo Credit: Patrick Eskay
Coming off a win against Central Connecticut State University last weekend, the Red Hawks played their final home game of the season against William Paterson University on Thursday, Jan. 26.
With a record of 9-10-2-2 and a total of 23 games played, the Men’s Ice Hockey team hoped to earn a final win on home ice, especially for the graduating seniors. Senior captains Chris Preziosi and Sam Enright, along with forwards Sal Demarzo, Matt Cofrancesco and goaltender Bradley Odgers will all be graduating at the end of the spring semester. Unfortunately for the seniors, the Red Hawks could not ensure a final home victory against William Paterson, as they fell 8-4.
The first period contained a lot of action as the William Paterson University Pioneers scored just two minutes in. The Red Hawks fought hard in the first period. Three minutes after the Pioneers’ first goal, forward Matt Cofrancesco scored off a pass from center Justin Ritter to put Montclair State up on the board with a score of 1-1. Goals and penalties would be exchanged back to back quite a bit. William Paterson scored with about ten minutes left in the first period, but Montclair State responded with a goal from forward Michael Buckel, assisted by Preziosi and Kevin Regan. With the score 2-2 and about nine minutes left to go, the Pioneers put another one behind Odgers, ending the first period with a score of 3-2.
As the second period was underway, both fan bases got loud and up on their feet. Five minutes in, William Paterson added to their lead with another goal. Soon enough the Pioneers added one more goal to their advantage just about sealing the deal. With 5-2 William Paterson lead, Buckel still continued to play a tough game. He earned another goal for the Red Hawks off assists from Preziosi and Enright. The period ended 5-3, and hope remained rather bright for the Red Hawks after only being down two goals.
Once the third and final period began, the Pioneers came out stronger than expected and ended up scoring three more goals in a span of seven minutes. Preziosi scored one last final goal with one minute left, but the game had already been determined. The final outcome was a rough 8-4 loss, with an accumulated 52 shots on Odgers, and 25 shots on goal for the Red Hawks Montclair State endured a total of 20 penalty minutes while William Paterson suffered from 16 minutes.
The Red Hawks’ next game will be at New York University on Friday, Feb. 3rd.
