Stockton University ICE HOCKEY

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.

The first weekend of November brought with it games with identical 8-2 scores. In the first, the RSC Ospreys were on the winning end versus in-state rival Rowan while the Sunday game brought a negative result versus Bryn Athyn.

Undisciplined play at the end of the Rowan game carried over into the Bryn Athyn affair. Stockton suffered 2 player DQs in a game well decided on Saturday. In the first few minutes of Sunday’s game, another player was given a game misconduct plus 7 additional minutes of penalties. The fact that a few of those players are among the top penalty killers for the Ospreys probably contributed to the Bryn Athyn team’s ability to jump out to a quick 4-0 lead. The quick Pennsylvania team kept their foots to the pedal whenever Stockton tried to surge back into the contest and the result was the Osprey’s 2nd los of the season.

Coach Ian Walterson and the team are looking forward to the rematch at the outdoor rink on the Bryn Athyn campus later this winter.

The Ospreys of Richard Stockton College recovered from an 8-1 Saturday beatdown at the hands of California University (PA) with a solid 6-3 win on Sunday over another western Pennsylvania power, Robert Morris University. The weekend started with a DVCHC conference win over Neumann University on the road by a 5-4 score.

The weekend saw Stockton playing with a shorter bench than normal, as injuries to Nick Lagrua, Ryan Wilson and Greg Buckley left coach Ian Walterson with little choice but to hand larger chunks of playing time to some of the younger players and taxed his special teams, especially with top defenseman Wilson and senior forward Buckley suffering from similar upper body issues.

Following a narrow victory against Neumann, Stockton fought a valiant fight against the national power CalU, especially during a spirited second period before the superior talent of the team from PA quickly put the game well out of reach early in the third. On Sunday, the team from South Jersey bested the visitors from Pittsburgh with teamwork and endurance, playing their best period in the 9th period of play over less than 48 hours.

Next up are 2 tough division games – a rematch of an early season game versus Rowan University and a home matchup against the highly touted team from Bryn Athyn College.

The visiting Richard Stockton College Ospreys game against the host Profs of Rowan University was a tale of 2 games. The first half of the game was very tight defensively, and the sizable crowd had little to cheer about until the home team’s fans cheered when they scored with just a few minutes remaining in the first period.

A few minutes into the second, the whistles started blowing and with a few power plays to each team and more open ice the game opened up and even continued in the few times 5 on 5 play occurred. The game was back and forth up and down the ice and on the scoreboard. Stockton looked like a possible winner following a goal by Greg Buckley on a redirect of a Tyler Martin shot with about 5 minutes to go and still on a powerplay for 2 more minutes. Then, with the goalie pulled, an extra attacker on and about a minute to go, Rowan converted on a goal off of an offensive zone face off following a Stockton icing. Following the remainder of regulation and 5 minutes of overtime, a winner needed to be determined in a shootout. Stockton players Al Morelli and Martin both converted their attempts while Rowan went 1 for 3 on theirs. 5-4 win for Stockton.

Both goalies were outstanding but Eddie Rafferty came up bigger in the shootout sending the Ospreys to their first 5-0 start in team history.

Following on the heels of a lackluster effort on Friday night, The RSC Ice Hockey team took on a formidable Farmingdale squad on Saturday, escaping with a 4-3 victory. Several players stepped up to play their best games of the season, including Jimmy Massaro, Charlie Massey and Matt Minski, but the first star of this game was surely goalie Eddie Rafferty. Rafferty stopped 41 shot put on net by the visitors, and many were pro-quality saves.

An early 3rd period goal on a backhander by co-captain Al Morelli gave the Ospreys a 2 goal lead, but there was no quit in the Long Island team as they fired 18 3rd period shots on Rafferty with him stopping all but one. Great effort by the entire team but steady Eddie stood out for the 3-0 Stockton team.