NYU Hockey Wins Home Opener Against Villanova University
NYU Hockey Wins Home Opener Against Villanova University
By Madi Perez
New York, NY - NYU Hockey kicked off the 2018 – 2019 season last Friday, October 5, 2018 against Villanova University with an outstanding 8-2 victory.
The Violets got off to rocky start when NYU’s Alex Hopkins went to the box for holding within the first minute of the game followed by NYU’s James Long receiving a tripping penalty in the middle of the first period. Villanova capitalized on the power play by scoring the first goal of the night. With just one minute left on the clock, Alex Hopkins scored NYU’s first goal of the season finishing the first period with a 1-1 tie. Hopkins goal was assisted by senior defenseman James Moeller.
NYU hit the ice hard in the second period potting six unanswered goals in the middle frame. Less than 90 seconds into the period, defenseman Andrew Williamson registered his first tally of the season with assists going to Scott Mulligan and John Kowalewski. A few minutes later, freshman James Long netted his first goal as a Violet and Mulligan picked up his second assist of the game. “It was good to get the monkey off my back,” said Long. “But as long as the team is winning, I'm happy.”
Alex Hopkins picked up his second goal of the night from Scott Mulligan. Junior Brandon Ritchey also scored for the Violets assisted by Mason Gallegos. Racking up NYU’s fifth goal of the period was sophomore Isaac Ceh, assisted by Brian Taccone and Parker Richards. NYU’s Richie Doherty was sent to the box on a hooking call but that did not slow down the Violets offensive outburst as Kohl Donovan scored an unassisted short-handed goal. The score after score after two periods had NYU leading 7-1.
Villanova started the third period with a short-handed goal making the score 7-2. NYU reclaims their six-point lead when Alex Hopkins assisted on Scott Mulligan’s first goal the season. NYU finishes with an 8-2 win against Villanova University, an incredible way to kick off the season. Junior goaltender Patrick Cavanaugh was strong in net stopping 19 of the 21 shots he faced.
“I liked the way we competed tonight, but we need to be better in a lot of areas,” said NYU Head Coach Chris Cosentino. “We are not going to be successful if we are killing penalties all night and I thought we could have done a better job controlling the game. But I was happy with the attitude on the bench and we know we need to keep pushing forward.”
The Violets are on the road this weekend for two big ESCHL conference games as they play University of Rhode Island on October 12 and October 13 at Brad Boss Arena.
