NEWS

The Richmond Spiders hockey club suffered its first defeat of the season Saturday night against Liberty University, enduring a 6-3 loss on home ice in what was a penalty- and mistake-filled affair for both squads.

Nick Brackenridge (Boston, MA / 2019) opened the scoring, putting Richmond ahead 1-0 in the first period with an unassisted marker. Shortly to follow, however, were a handful of bad bounces that resulted in two quick goals for Liberty – one shorthanded and one on the power play.

Devin Callahan (Skaneateles, NY / 2020) tied the game for the Spiders with a few minutes left in the first, and the unassisted goal was the first of his Richmond career. The first period concluded with each team committing three minor penalties in total.

After Liberty scored to take a 3-2 lead, Trevor McGee (Pearl River, NY / 2019) again knotted the score between the schools, this time a little less than halfway through the second period. Andy Casamento (Canton, MA / 2019) assisted on the McGee tally, which was the last taste of offense that Richmond would have on the night.

Liberty, ahead 4-3, took advantage of a breakdown and scored a late period goal to go into the second intermission up two, and the Spiders were unable to overcome the deficit, conceding another power play goal against in the third. Richmond seemed to lose a lot of steam because of the consecutive weeks of high ice time.

“Thought we weren’t executing,” said Callahan, “and a lot of the times we failed to execute they took advantage and scored.” 

“We weren’t making much happen,” he added.

“We played hard for the first couple periods, I thought, but just didn’t have the legs to keep it moving right into the third,” said team captain Mike Blaum (Malvern, PA / 2017).

HC Jason Block seemed to indicate this just wasn’t the Spiders’ night.

“We’ve played better. The guys know it and us coaches know it,” said Block.

“But we also know how gassed they were, and they don’t make excuses,” he continued.

“They come, they work hard, and they don’t complain. It’s a case where some nights, that’s not enough for half a game…especially when you’re not getting puck bounces. Not a great recipe, and it just wasn’t our night.”

The teams combined for 15 minor penalties, a number the Spiders would prefer to see go down in their next contest against Marshall on October 21st.