With the semester in full swing, the men’s hockey team took on the University of New Hampshire (UNH) on home ice Friday Jan. 12, where they fell 5-0.
The first game back had an afternoon start at 1 p.m., and the team seemed refreshed after having a few weeks off. However, it was clear to see that UNH dominated the majority of the game.
As the first period began, the Red Hawks came out hard after losing their graduating captain Sam Enright, who played a huge leadership role for the team. About four minutes into the first period, Montclair State’s Michael Buckel was guilty of a two-minute elbowing minor penalty. UNH went on to score at the 5:48 mark credited to Matthew Lambert who gave the team a 1-0 lead.
The Red Hawks’ seemed to not lag too far behind in the first as UNH’s Lambert received a two-minute interference minor at the 7:10 mark. The period came to a close when UNH’s Jake Reardon scored the second goal of the game updating the score to 2-0.
Once the second period began, the Red Hawks began playing a physical yet controlled game by not racking up too many penalty minutes. With Bradley Odgers in net for Montclair State, he continued to play a solid game considering he faced a total of 66 shots on goal throughout the three periods. During the second, he let in two early goals at the 1:35 and 1:49 marks, with goals by UNH’s Kyle Scancerella and Nick Miele. The Red Hawks only suffered from one minor penalty at the 8:40 mark with Shawn Meneghin guilty of tripping.
With the third period underway, it was clear to see that this game was not in the Red Hawks’ favor. The majority of the third was played in Montclair State’s zone pressuring Odgers and their defense. UNH scored early again as Daniel Mullin shot one past Odgers at the 4:51 mark. Montclair State continued to try to get their offense going but ended up only having 11 shots on goal against UNH’s goaltender Brendan Sullivan. The Red Hawks’ Lucas Prospero ended up receiving a two-minute holding minor at the 15:47 mark, but other than that, the team was only guilty of a total of three penalties. UNH was called out on a roughing minor, which ended the game with a final score of 5-0.
Suffering from a 5-0 loss, Odgers did play a great game by saving 61 shots. It was clear to see that the team’s number one goal scorer and captain was not on the ice as the team looks for someone to fill that position. This was the last game that the Red Hawks will play against UNH this season.
