November. Most people picture Thanksgiving when they hear November; however, for the Eagles, November means something different. It means the heart of the season, and some of the most challenging matchups that the schedule has to offer. With the Eagles sitting at 6-4 there is little room for error to maintain a winning record, and every win is another step towards the national rankings that will soon be released. The Eagles are careful not to look ahead too far though, and with Coach Joyce reminding the team to play their game no matter their opponent, the Eagles have become a team that can hang with the country’s finest. The Eagles have twice come within two goals of toppling a quality opponent, once against Florida State University (6-4 FSU), and again against Florida Atlantic University (6-5 FAU). With each game, win or loss, the Eagles have learned something new and taken it with them into their following matchups, and with the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders coming to town, the Eagles would show everyone what they have learned.

The tale of the tape for the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Eagles and the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders spans two seasons, as the two teams met last season. Last season, the two teams met in a double-header, with the Eagles winning both games, albeit competitive play from MTSU. Both games were close (5-4 and 9-7 ERAU), and for the Blue Raiders these games would be two of the closet games they played all year. So, last year these teams looked to be evenly matched, but these are very different teams than last year. This season, the Eagles come into the game with a record of 6 wins and 4 losses. They are putting up, on average, 6 goals a game, and allowing 3 goals a game. When a team scores 50% more goals than they allow, you have the recipe for a winning team. Comparatively, the Blue Raiders, with a record of 0-7, on average score 2 goals a game, and allow 10 goals a game. The opposite is true for the Blue Raiders, as they allow five times more goals than they score, which puts a lot of pressure on the goalies and defenders.

The puck dropped, and the Blue Raiders were outmanned from the start, literally. They had a short bench of nine skaters and two goalies, while the Eagles had eighteen skaters with two goalies. Because of this, the Blue Raiders relied on cherry-picking for their goals. They would keep one man in the neutral zone in hopes of hitting a long stretch pass and getting a breakaway. The play worked twice for them, and in the first period they would score two goals. The rest would be all Eagles. Spencer Kuhlman would score twice. His goals showed he is a versatile player who can score from either side of the ice. One goal came from the left face-off circle, and the other from the right face-off circle. Both of these shots fell into the grade A scoring chance areas, and he blasted both wrist shots past the MTSU goalie. Matching the score of two goals for each team, Turner Kauffman might have had the shot of the game. He was standing directly in front of the net in the slot, and received the puck right on his stick. He whipped a wicked wrist shot that hit the top crossbar, the left post, and finally down into the net. With the metal ringing throughout the arena, the score was 3-2 Eagles. Jeremy Kerson would score from the same spot Kauffman scored from, with a backhand shot that slipped right under the MTSU goaltender’s blocker. The backhand shot is one of the hardest shots to stop for a goalie, and Kerson showed he has one of the best on the team. The Eagles would score one more goal in the first period, and it would be off a Brendan Barger slapshot. “Slapshot Barg” is what he is known as he showcased why with a goal that rocketed past the goalie. A goal that came on a night with Barger’s family in town. Can’t get much sweeter than that. The period would end with the score 5-2 ERAU. The Eagles shot 21 times in the first period, with 11 coming in grade A scoring areas, while the Blue Raiders would shoot 6 times in the first period, with 3 shots coming in grade A scoring areas.

The Blue Raiders would come out more physical in the second period, hoping to turn the tide. The first goal of the period would go to the Eagles, as Spencer Kuhlman would make a pass to Glenn Corey who put his wrist shot right past the goaltender. The next goal would come right after the first one of the period, as Alex Hess would win an offensive zone face-off, and dangle through a MTSU player’s legs and shoot a backhand shot for a goal. Great hands and concentration were on display from Hess. The next goal would start with Glenn Corey taking a wrist shot, and a save from the MTSU goalie. Corey would collect his own rebound and fire another wrist shot, only to be stopped. He would gain his own rebound again, before taking it around the back of the net and finding Ryan Marks on the left side of the net on an island. The pass was tape-to-tape and Marks fired on a wide open net. The goal showed how hungry Corey is for the puck, continuously following his shot and getting rebounds to setup the goal. The final goal for the Eagles would start with Turner Kauffman gathering the puck in the corner, and surveying his options behind the MTSU net. He would skate around the right side of the net and find Glenn Corey on the opposite side. A pass to the back door, and Corey caught the pass and went right into his shot without the goalie even moving to stop it, because he never even saw it. A textbook play. This would make the score 9-2 for the Eagles. MTSU would score one more time, making it 9-3 before the period’s end. Shot counts from the second were similar to the first, as the Eagles shot 18 times, with half of those coming in grade A scoring areas, while the Blue Raiders would shoot 7 times, with 4 of those coming in grade A scoring areas. Mitchell Kihm, who started the game in net for the Eagles, would be relieved by Max Minervini halfway through the second period. Kihm stopped 7 of 9, and put up a solid performance in net.

The third period featured zero goals, but the Eagles played a solid period of hockey. The Eagles shot 13 times, with half of those coming in grade A scoring areas. The MTSU goalie was on, but so was ERAU’s Max Minervini. Minervini’s final stats for the night would be 5 saves on 6 shots faced. A solid night for any goalie. As the final whistle blew, the Eagles would get another W in the win column with a final score of 9-3. This would improve their record to 7-4.

A rare game where the tale of the tape held true. The Eagles allowed their season average of 3 goals, and the Blue Raiders allowed close to their season average of 10 goals, allowing 9 on Friday night. The Blue Raiders also scored very close to their season average, scoring 3 on Friday night with a season average of 2. Statistics can sometimes be a good indicator of how a game will go, and other times statistics can be misleading. I discuss this in a previous article (http://pointstreaksites.com/view/embryriddleeagles/news-1147/news_494562) that was not posted to the team Facebook page, but in the second paragraph I discuss context and sample size in regards to my weekly “Tale of the Tape”.

In a blowout game, it can sometimes be hard to keep playing a fundamentally sound game, but the Eagles stuck to their game plan and it got them a good win. It was especially important to keep the fundamentals, as Sunday is the biggest game of the season for the Eagles. It is a rematch with the University of Tampa, in which the Eagles hope to prove to the University of Tampa, and the ACHA that they are a national contender.

So as November starts, as does a tough stretch of games for the Eagles. The Eagles proved to themselves, and everyone watching they are up for it with a definitive win Friday night. It’s mid-season, and the Eagles are in mid-season form and ready for the rest of November.

-Nick Conrad