Everyone in the stands was
treated to a wild game on Saturday afternoon thanks mostly to Colby's goalie
and their style of play. I give Coach
Sandler and the Colby players a ton of credit for how they attack at both ends
of the field and try to make it a frantic game for 60 minutes. Fortunately for us, our squad is playing fast
thanks to our experience against RIT and Amherst in the past two weeks. We were ready for the pressure that Colby
brought on the defensive end and after a shaky start, held them in check
offensively as the game went on.
Back to the Colby goalie,
Tyler Will. He played one heck of a game
on Saturday and finished with 22 saves.
Earlier in the year he had 24 saves in a 13-11 loss to Tufts and has a
63% save percentage on the year so this is what he's been doing all year.
Still, it was hard to believe what we were seeing out there. He was making point blank saves with ease and
dove across the crease for a save in the 2nd half that is one of the best I've
seen in a while. Colby has Amherst up
next and that is going to be a fun game.
After taking an early 4-1
lead we quickly gave up 4 straight to find ourselves down 5-4 with less than a
minute to play in the 1st. After we
turned it over on a crease feed with about 15 seconds left, Henry Riehl hounded his defenseman on the ride and turned it over
out of bounds with about 3 seconds left in the quarter. On the quick whistle he
found Sean Carroll on the crease to tie the game with 2 seconds left, it was a
big time play by Henry.
The four quick goals by
Colby were the result of some poor on ball defense but also a shaky start by
Will Ernst in the goal. Not
surprisingly, he found his rhythm in the 2nd and ended up making 17 saves of
his own! Will also continues to show
improvement in the clearing game and is beginning to push the ball down the
field.
The game was back and
forth the entire way with both teams trading one goal leads for most of it. We
were up 8-7 at the half but found ourselves down 10-8 with 10 minutes left in
the 3rd. We finally went on a run to take an 11-10 lead and then a 14-11
advantage early in the 4th.
Sophomore defensive
midfielder Joey Zelkowitz is becoming a weapon in
transition. He finished with another 2
goals and now has 10 on the season. He's also playing some great on-ball
defense. Junior midfielder Tim Giarrusso finished with 3 goals and played one of the best
games of his career.
The game ball was awarded
to senior David Murray who finished the day with two goals and an assist as he
once again split time with Cedric Rhodes at attack. David has been in and out of the lineup all
year but his focus on competing and improving each day has not wavered. He's another one of our outstanding seniors
that continue to pull this group in the right direction.
Another big home game
coming up on Wednesday with Springfield coming to town. They're having a bit of a down year compared
to where they typically are at this point in the season but we all know they'll
be up for the Panthers. Game time is at
4:30 and as always, will be webcast in HD.