Kaitlyn Morrison

10/23

Morgantown- The song “Country Roads” got to play through the speakers of the Morgantown Ice Rink once again as the WVU Division III Men’s Hockey Club was able to overcome their opponent, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and win the Sunday morning game 6-2, thus pushing the team one step closer to the playoffs.

“Going into this game, I knew that another loss would knock us out of the playoffs and I had to work hard not to think of that possibility,” Coach Cole Warner said. “I could constantly repeat myself and tell them ‘shoot the puck, shoot the puck’ but that kind of guidance doesn’t help. The boys know what they need to do, and they accomplished that today. This was their most complete game of the season with nearly 40 shots on goal, the defensive pairings working well together, and some of the best goaltending I’ve seen so far. I am extremely proud of them.” Coach Warner continued to say that the defensemen Jacob Morris, Wyatt Hughes, Eric Dickman and Wyatt Hubler also played an essential role in WVU’s victory as they spent the most time in the game.

 Not only was this win necessary, it was crucial for team morale as well. After a disappointing loss on Friday against Fredonia State 4-8 and an overtime tie with George Mason 3-3 on Saturday, the Mountaineers were ready for success although they were exhausted. Since the season start, the team has gone from 28 players to 20 due to the rigorous training schedules that were designed to weed out anyone who did not want to take the games seriously. The group of dedicated players that remain are the reason that the team is able to function with so few members. Senior forward and team captain, Matt Strober, remarked “I would rather lose a game with the guys that I have on my team now, than win with anyone else.”

Neither the captain, nor the team had to face that fact, though, as their dedication and teamwork came to fruition once again. Five minutes into the second period, with neither team advancing in the first, late-to-the-season forward Kaden Cook scored the first goal of the game, with help from assistant captain Ben Monroe and freshman Jake Cooper. After a slight error by WVU’s defensive pairing, IUP was able to push the puck around WVU goalie, Garrett DePippo to tie the game at 1-1.

Halfway through the second period, Cook scored the second goal of his collegiate career advancing the Mountaineers 2-1. IUP, however, was quick to return the challenge scoring one minute later to tie it back up. Near the end of the second period Cook, who got a hat-trick with this goal, managed to sneak another puck past the IUP goalie putting the Mountaineers ahead 3-2.

In the final period, Cook would go on to score two more times earning him the Player of the Game award for scoring a total of five out of the six goals for WVU. When asked, Coach Warner only had positive things to say about Cook, “This is a kid who hadn’t touched the ice for six months, and impressed me with his natural ability. I think that everything finally came together for him today, and he’s the reason we won by so much.” Coach Warner also attributed the success of the team to the captain’s influence, saying that Matt Strober was more than he could ask for in a captain both on and off the ice. Strober scored the final goal of Sunday’s game, assisted by Cook with four minutes to spare, giving the Mountaineers a four point lead over IUP.

Cook and Strober’s efforts would have been for naught if it wasn’t for sophomore goalie Garrett DePippo, who also had an impressive game, as he faced twenty shots on net and stopped eighteen of them. DePippo later said, “It was really important for me to do a good job, and after seeing IUP play the first time when we lost, I guaranteed [Coach Warner] a win if I was put in this time. I was lucky that the defensemen really stepped it up and had my back, or else the result wouldn’t have been so awesome.”

 DePippo also credited his personal success to having the ability to not lose confidence in himself even when he’s been scored on, saying that when it happens he focuses on what can be done to prevent it from happening again. “I have to have a really short memory so I don’t focus on mistakes and, actually, I think that’s what we all need to do. Mistakes are gonna’ happen but that’s the way we learn.”