Announcement
The Ospreys of RSC came away from the weekend with 2 losses to 2 good teams in SUNY Farmingdale and Neumann University. Both games were winnable, especially the away game in Long Island, when Stockton took a 5-3 lead early in the 3rd period only to see Farmingdale score 4 unanswered goals the rest of the way. Two of the goals were scored in the last 3 minutes, as a few bad pinches by the defense led to a couple of 2 on 1 opportunities which the home team capitalized on. At the end of the game, there was a brawl, perhaps borne out of frustration from losing the lead late as well as having to try to kill off 8 penalties, where Farmingdale scored 3 of their goals. Stockton was awarded just 2 powerplays, one of which was evened up 20 seconds later.
The game on Sunday versus Neumann was going to be an uphill struggle all along, as a DQ to Osprey’s leading scorer Al Morelli in the previous game’s waning moments left him ineligable for this game. Still, the Ospreys struck first before Neumann applied pressure. Again, undisciplined play was the nemesis of Stockton and Neumann took full advantage of it. By the end of the game Neumann had fired about 50 shots on Osprey netminder Eddie Rafferty. Even with all that, Stockton played their best period in the 3rd, but Neumann’s netminder got better and better as the game wore on and shut out the home team in the final period.
Next up for Stockton is the Empire Classic, a showcase tournament featuring 4 leading conferences from the east and southeast (Empire, DVCHC, CHE and BRHC). Stockton faces University of Pittsburgh (Altoona) on Friday night, a Saturday afternoon contest against Southern Connecticut State and a Sunday morning game facing UNC (Wilmington). All games are at The Rinks at Warwick in Warminster, PA.
