In a weekend heavy with conference action, all ten Colonial States College Hockey Conference were active for the sixth full weekend of competition. Eight of them battled in games for the conference standings while two others played outside the CSCHC, including one playing an ACHA Division 1 side. The top of the table is becoming more clear while the middle remains a battleground.

As it currently stands, three teams remain perfect in conference play (one of which did not play in a CSCHC game in Week 5) while three others are looking for their first win of the season.

Friday, October 11

Seton Hall Pirates vs NJIT Highlanders (3-2)

In the first game of the season between the two local rivals, Seton Hall University came away with its first conference win of the year over the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Back-to-back two goal periods for each team set the Pirates up for a game winner in the third by senior alternate captain Jeremy Grabiec.

The visitors came out in the first scoring two unanswered goals in the twenty minute span. Sophomore Robert Anderson scored his first of the season off an o-zone faceoff win with an assist from freshman center Justin Petracco early on. Not long after and on a power play, team captain Ben Bala, off an assist from freshman Toussaint, gave his team the (dreaded) two goal lead. NJIT was not sitting back during the spree, challenging Pirates’ junior goalie Joe Carbone to no avail.

The second period saw momentum swing towards the home team. Carbone’s play kept his team ahead for as long as possible, but some shaky defense and fast play by the Highlanders chipped at the lead. The team outshot Seton Hall 2:1 and the high paid off early when Ryan Nieves scored his first goal of the season off a Dalton Smith long-shot rebound. The tying goal got past Carbone midway through when Ted Lee fed James Copeland for a breakaway, one-on-one chance.

The back and forth final twenty minutes had both sides pushing hard. Despite Grabiec’s goal just under eight minutes into the period, NJIT held back the Pirates and set itself up for counter-attacks throughout. The final chance came with a power play in the last three minutes including a 6-on-4 opportunity but the clock ran out as Hall hauled in two points.

Saturday, October 12

UPenn Quakers Seton Hall Pirates (6-5)

Eight goals through two periods set-up a race to the finish between Seton Hall University and the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday night. While the Pirates came close to forcing overtime and earning points for a second straight game, the Quakers defense worked long enough to earn the team its fifth straight CSCHC win.

 

Will Torgerson scored a hat-trick for his team, providing three of the Quakers first four goals, while Jonas Toupal and Robert Blend rounded out scoring in the first two periods. The high powered offense put up 41 shots in the 40 minutes compared to the Pirates’ 14, though the home team was able to accomplish more with less.

 

The Quaker’s Blend and Christian Rodriguez set up Torgerson for the visitor's first goal nine minutes into the game and left the home team struggling to put up shots in response. Seton Hall’s freshman Cameron Touissaint evened the score at one each with just under three minutes to play on a power play, assisted by junior Thomas Healy and sophomore Luke Kirkowski, but could not carry the tie into the break. UPenn responded with two goals within thirty seconds of one-another in the final two minutes by Torgerson and Toupal. These goals were assisted by Healy, Kirkowski, Blend, and Brett Rahbany.

 

The pattern of two Penn goals for ever Hall goal continued into the second. Touissaint cut the lead to one just over a minute in, assisted by Healy once again, but the Quakers pulled one back with Torgerson’s final goal of the game just 37 seconds later, assisted by Andy Lane and Toupal.

 

Blend and Healy both exchanged goals for their respective teams in the final five minutes, with Pirates’ Kirkowski and Touissaint earning assists along with the Quaker’s Matt Rose. The Pirates took a two goal deficit into the final 20 minutes.

 

The Pirates put up their best offense of the night in the third period putting up 20 shots compared to Penn’s 14. Hayden Stephan provided what would be the game winning goal with 6:34 left in the game, assisted by Toupal and Brian Begley. A minute and a half later, Healy scored his second goal of the night off a pass from freshman Nick Serapiglia. As the Quakers began  accumulating penalty minutes late, Hall pulled goaltender Joe Carbone and pushed forward. Kirkowski made it a one-score game with his first college goal on a power play, assisted bt Healy and Nick Mangano, but time ran out for the group as the visitors walked away with two points.

Other Scores:

Friday, October 11

• Princeton University (1) vs Rutgers University (7) (CSCHC Game)

Goals not reported

 

• University of Pennsylvania (8) vs West Chester University (5) (CSCHC Game)

            UPenn Goals:

            1) Robert Blend (Will Torgerson)

            2) Jonas Toupal (Adam Merry)

            3) Jonas Toupal (2) (Brian Begley)

            4) Brett Rahbany (Robert Blend)

            5) Phil Foster (Brian Begley)

            6) Jonas Toupal (3) (Brandon Labe)

            7) Brian Begley (Brandon Labe)

            8) Jonas Toupal (4) (Matt Rose, Brandon Labe)

 

            West Chester Goals:

            1) Grey Rumain (Shane Stefani, Richard Spor)

            2) Alex Marino (Teriq Mapp, Nicholas Schuck)

            3) Teriq Mapp (Shane Stefani)

            4) Vincent Vetrano (Grey Rumain, Joshua Stephenson)

            5) Alex Marino (2) (Eric Schwass)

           

• Millersville University (1) vs George Washington University (4)

Millersville Goals:

1) Not Reported

 

• The College of New Jersey (1) vs Naval Academy (D1) (3)

TCNJ Goals:

1) JP Kelly

 

• Monmouth University (2) vs The University of Scranton (7) (CSCHC Game)

            Goals not reported

 

Saturday, October 12

• The University of Scranton vs Princeton University (CSCHC Game) (POSTPONED)

 

• Monmouth University (0) vs Stockton University (D3) (10)

 

• New Jersey Institute of Technology (3) vs Rutgers University (6) (CSCHC Game)

            NJIT Goals:

            1) Michael Caufield (Ted Lee, Dennis Sikorjak)

            2) Michael Caufield (2) (PP) (Dalton Smith, James Lyle)

            3) Dalton Smith (PP) (James Copeland, James Lyle)

 

            Rutgers Goals:

            (Not Reported)

 

Standings Heading into Weekend 6
*Compiled by NJIT Reporter Kofi Appiah

 

1) Penn                4-0      8 PTS

2) TCNJ              4-0       8 PTS

3) Scranton          3-0      6 PTS

*4) Rutgers          2-1      4 PTS    8 GA  (1-0 vs Princeton)

*5) West Chester 2-2      4 PTS    14 GA (1-0 vs Princeton)

*6) Princeton       2-6      4 PTS    38 GA (0-2 vs RUT/WC)

7) Seton Hall       1-4      2 PTS

*8) Millersville    0-0      0 PTS    6 GA

*9) NJIT              0-2      0 PTS    9 GA

*10) Monmouth    0-3      0 PTS  18 GA

 

*Rutgers has the tiebreaker over West Chester due to having allowed 6 fewer goals, West Chester has the tiebreaker over Princeton due to a head-to-head win. Both Rutgers and West Chester have head-to-head victories over Princeton