LAST UPDATED:  03/26/03

      RU Looks for Revenge at BRHC Playoff Tournament

     Revenge is on the minds of the hockey team as they head into the BRHC tournament in Chesapeake, Virginia this weekend. Winless since Dec., the Highs (7-7-2) will have to win three games to claim the tournament championship after failing to recieve a first round bye following a pair of losses to Richmond and Hampton Roads last week.
  
     “Practice has been really good, and the guys are actually having fun out on the ice again,” said junior captain Jason Furtek. “ After the Natty Cup game on Tuesday, we are going to work really hard to get ready to go to Chesapeake and  embarass ASU, VCU and Hampton Roads like they have done to us this year.”
  
     The “Natty Cup game” is first on the agenda for the guys on Tuesday night. The game will feature the Highs split up into 10-  man teams, playing four on four, black versus white jerseys for the coveted cup. The Natty Cup is nothing but a spray painted keg, with the winners names written on it from year to year. Being the first year the team has played this game, the contest has been
hyped ever since senior winger Johnny Mazza came up with the idea. “I just wanted us to get back to having fun like we did first semester, back when we were killing people,” said Mazza.” It is a good chance for us to work on our game and lay some hits on the teammates we want to hit before the season is over.”
  
     Friday night is when the real business starts for RU. First round opponent Appalachian State has been the basement dweller in the BRHC all season long, losing to RU 13-2 in Nov. before suprisingly beating the Highs 6-3 in Jan. Goaltending and lack of goal scoring support hurt the Highs in that game.
  
     “We came into that game cocky and unfocused,” said Furtek. “I guarantee that won’t happen again.” Assuming a win Friday against ASU, the Highs will have to play season long nemesis VCU. The Rams are the only BRHC team RU has not beaten this season, losing 6-3 in Nov., and skating to a 2-2 tie in Roanoke two weeks
ago in a game RU should have won. The other side of the tournament bracket is not as clear cut in deciding the winner. Hampton Roads, the regular season champion, is the odds on favorite. Richmond has been playing strong as of late, along with N.C. State whose goaltender, Nick Brown has been the leaugue’s
hottest.
  
     “We are not going down without a fight. We are going to go to that tournament and show everyone that Radford is the best team in the BRHC,” said Furtek.
 

RU Gets a Much Needed Tie!

        The hockey team finally got things pointed in the right direction Saturday with a hard fought 2-2 tie against VCU. The game proved to be exciting for the many fans in attendance as action flowed from end to end portraying the talents of both teams.
  RU winger Eric Braese struck first with an early goal in the first period. Colin Annan rushed the puck down the left side of the ice before dishing a drop pass to center Louis Smith who fired a hard shot at VCU goaltender Ton Huynh. Huynh made the initial stop but was unable to corral the rebound that Braese pounced on and fired home.
   “I came off the wing when Louis (Smith) shot it. I saw some daylight between his pads and made a good shot,” said Braese. RU continued to pummel Huynh with shots, who made big save after big save to keep the Highs at one goal. At the other end of the ice, David Kennedy was equally brilliant between the pipes for RU, making one breakaway stop in the first period along with several point blank chances.
  The second period started the same way the first had ended, with hard skating and hitting all over the ice. Penalties became a factor for RU, but the Highs were able to fend off the league leading VCU power play due to smart defense and shimmering stops by Kennedy. VCU would notch the score at one halfway through the second period when a defensive breakdown led to a two on one break for VCU. A brilliant pass that Wertz knocked home for the Rams handcuffed Kennedy. RU did not lose momentum and continued to play smart hockey throughout the period. The Highs made it 2-1 when a shot from RU defenseman Adam Toghill was again slammed home on a rebound by Rick Dotchin.   “ I saw his (Toghill) shot, and just said to myself be ready for the
rebound,” said Dotchin.
  Leading going into the third period, the Highlanders were not about to sit back and hope the lead stood up. The pace of play sped up, becoming a game of attrition and heart. VCU was not going to be denied a chance to at least win when another defensive letdown left a Ram winger alone in front of the RU goal. A perfect pass led to all the time in the world for him to score. He would make no mistake, lifting a shot over Kennedy and into the net. Chances were aplenty on both ends, with the goaltenders stealing the show. Overtime was no different with RU dominating most of the play but unable to beat Huynh. The 2-2 tie was a chance for RU to at least stop the five game losing streak, but still left a bad taste in their mouths.  “We should have won that game,” said Braese, “we had so many chances that we did not finish.”
  A scheduling change was also made for the Highs, who will now be playing league leading Hampton Roads on Friday night and then traveling to Richmond to take on the Spiders on Saturday. RU added two games next weekend in Orlando, Fla.  against Florida Atlantic University, who is currently tied with RU at fifth place in the Southeast region of the ACHA. With a win against Richmond or
Hampton Roads, RU will clinch a first round bye in the BRHC tournament which starts Feb. 28 in Chesapeake.
 

RU Starts Second Semester in the Wrong Direction

        The blades were rusty when the RU hockey team stepped onto the ice in Knoxville to battle the Tennessee Volunteers this past weekend. The Highlanders dropped two games in a row for the first time in over a year with 6-3 and 10-3 losses. It was a weekend of firsts for both teams. Saturday evening marked the first game for UT in their new rink. RU unveiled their new jerseys, the first new
design in 7 years. Something had to give, and unfortunately for RU, it was a combination of poor defensive and offensive play, paired with UT’s great passing ability which brought RU to their knees.
        Saturday started with festivities for players and fans of UT, the Ice Vols did not disappoint. By the team RU got around to looking at the scoreboard, it was 5-0 UT. Highlander goaltender Don Principe was peppered with shots from every possible angle while the RU players did little to help. RU got on the board late in the second period when defenseman Adam Toghill fired home a rebound to cut the score to 5-1. A brief momentum switch had occurred, with RU controlling play early in the third period. Eric Braese roofed a breakaway shot over the UT goalie to get the score to 5-2. Controversy followed. Due to the pregame festivities, UT forgot to rent enough ice time to allow for the game in its
entirety. The rink manager requested a running clock, which took the wind out of RU’s collective sails. UT capitalized and put the game out of reach, with their sixth goal of the contest. Billy Townsend added a late goal to make the final 6-3 UT. “ We came out slow and weren’t thinking”, said RU defenseman Matt Bernard, “ A fast team like UT is going to burn us if we aren’t on our game,
and that is exactly what they did.”
        Sunday morning the Highlanders came out rolling. This time however, it was solid goaltending and misplaced shots that kept RU off the board. UT weathered the storm and capitalized when the Highlanders got frustrated. David Kennedy was also strong for RU between the pipes. Soon enough though, UT scored some
powerplay goals and started the landslide for RU. Dotchin got a goal in the second period for RU with a well placed wrist shot. Dan Clairmonte and Dotchin got the remaining two goals for RU. “We just got so frustrated that we started beating ourselves. We should have been up 5-2 after the first period at least. We’ll move on though and hopefully use these losses to our advantage,” said
senior Brian Fanzo.
        RU remains ranked atop the BRHC standings due to these UT games being non-league. RU is currently ranked fourth in the ACHA Southeast region. The top three teams in each region will goto the ACHA national tournament in Muskegon, MI in early March. This weekend the Highlanders play in the friendly confines
of Roanoke against ASU on Friday at 11 p.m. and Charleston on Saturday at 6
p.m..

 

RU finishes semester with best Record in Team History!

          The Radford mens ice hockey team closed out the semester of play with a pair of big wins against Appalachian State and University of Richmond respectively.  Friday night, the Highlanders hit the ice against ASU. Despite having only 11 skaters and a goalie, ASU played a hard fought first period. Radford got on the board first, when Nate Ward-Dahl tucked home a rebound off a hard shot from Drew Furrow. ASU responded quickly when the ASU center beat Radford goaltender Jason Johns to equalize the score. Just over a minute later, Dan Clairmonte beat the ASU goaltender from the bottom of the left circle to make it 2-1 Radford. ASU came right back just minutes later when the RU defenseman sent an errant pass right to the stick of the waiting winger, who blasted it by Johns.
        The second period started with the Highlanders proving why they are the leagues elite team when Eric Braese tipped home a shot from Matt Bernard.  Ward-Dahl made it 4-2 Radford with a 3 on 0 breakaway goal due to a poor line change for ASU. Braese lit the lamp 44 seconds later with a beautiful 2 on 1 break after a perfect pass from Brian Fanzo. After some penalty troubles, RU got back on track when Bernard sprang Jason Furtek on a breakaway and beat the ASU goalie for the 5-2 lead. Seconds later, Rick Dotchin poked home a rebound goal and took the Highlanders into intermission with a 6-2 lead.
        Refusing to let up pressure, Radford scored six goals in the third period to send ASU on a long drive back to Boone, NC. Furrow tallied two more goals for his first hat trick of the season. Louis Smith also added two goals in third period for Radford, who outshot ASU 53-31. Also scoring for Radford was Fanzo, who tipped home a pretty shot from the point to make the final score 13-2 Radford. ASU remains winless on the year.

          Saturday night, Radford came out to a huge crowd for a game against in state rival Richmond. Both teams skated and hit hard in the early going, with Radford getting on the board first. Drew Furrow continued to build off his hat trick the previous night when he beat UR goaltender Sarnovsky on a bing bang play from Johnny Mazza and Nate Ward-Dahl. Radford made it 2-0 just under four minutes later when Jason Furtek ripped home a rebound shot with the assists going to Dan Clairmonte and Wellesley Shomo. The first period ended with Richmond gaining momentum, but so far unable to beat Radford goalie David Kennedy.
        The second period was horrible for RU, who fell into their old
habits, taking penalties all over the ice. Richmond capitalized when a shot from defenseman Scaberry hit three pairs of legs and trickled by Kennedy for the 2-1 score. Richmond started flying and had Radford running low on breath as the second period ended.
        Richmond continued to pressure RU in the third period and again beat Kennedy with a nice shot high to the glove side. The ice seemed tilted to the Radford end, with Kennedy making save after save to keep the score knotted at two a piece. A fighting major penalty to Johnny Mazza put Radford into a 5 on 3-penalty kill situation, which was the make or break situation of the year for Radford. The defense held strong and kept the puck out of the net. With just over 4 minutes remaining, Richmond dumped the puck into the Radford zone and went for a line change. RU defenseman Adam Toghill picked up the puck and saw Clairmonte streaking down the ice. Toghill hit Clairmonte in stride from 70 feet away and watched as Clairmonte beat Sarniovsky for the game winning goal. The 3-2 win was an emotional one for Radford, who fought great adversity throughout the game. Radford was outshot for only the second time this season 40-31.
 

RU gets sweet revenge with a 9-2 victory over Charleston!

          The Radford ice hockey team got the ball rolling in the right direction Saturday with an impressive 9-2 in Charleston, SC. Poor play in the last few games has had the team concerned with the direction they were heading. A very solid practice during the week, along with motivation from losing to Charleston last year in the conference tournament game, gave the Highlanders all the momentum when they stepped on the ice. “ I am glad we played so well after the long drive down here. I wanted to beat them badly for knocking us out of the tournament last year, “ said senior winger Johnny Mazza.
        Junior Jason Furtek got the first goal for Radford 14 minutes into the first period, showing great awareness knocking home a rebound while on his rear end. Lady luck was on the shoulders on freshman Nate Ward-Dahl when he made it 2-0 Radford less than one minute later. Ward-Dahl, standing behind the Colonials net had his centering pass hit a Charleston defenseman and trickled past goalie Patrick Widner. The Highlanders kept the pressure on and broke through on the power play when Jeff Goduti beat Widner on a hard, deflected shot. Goduti had an excellent game, showing great stamina and poise, which he had been working on all week. “ My hall mate Jesse and I have been working out all week, and it paid off on the ice,” said Goduti. After one period the Highlanders were out shooting Charleston 18-10, with Widner making several
difficult stops to keep the score at only 3-0.
        The second period started with Radford pouring on the pressure. Furtek again beat Widner on a power play tally. Freshman defenseman Matt Bernard made a great pass, which Furtek tipped home. “ I saw the daylight and put it exactly where I had to,” said Furtek. Charleston made a sloppy line change and got burned when Radford came down the ice 3 on 0. Louis Smith made
no mistake and beat Widner to the glove side to extend Radford’s lead to 5-0 at the 4:13 mark. The ice seemed tilted to the Charleston end, with shot after shot sailing to the Colonials goal. Dan Clairmonte converted at 2:26 when he beat Widner with a shot to the top corner after a brilliant drop pass from Furtek. With two periods complete, Radford stayed focused to stay on their game. Highlander goaltender Don Principe had been flawless, stopping 17 shots in the first two periods.
        After a resurface, the Highlanders stayed on the hunt of Charleston. Furtek completed the hat trick effort tucking home a rebound, this time from his knees. The assist went to Rick Dotchin, who had a coming out game with three total assists. Charleston finally got by Principe when Pete Lucov roofed a rebound shot on a defensive breakdown in the Radford end. Mr. Furtek was not
satisfied with just three goals. He made it 4 when he again beat Widner with a low shot at the 12:00 mark. Charleston got another lucky break and beat a sprawled out Principe on a turnover deep in the Highlander zone. Brian Fanzo closed out the Highlander parade when he tipped home a beautiful pass from Brandon Robertson with just over 4 minutes left in the game. Assists throughout the game were plentiful, with Mazza, Bernard, and Billy Towson all collecting two a piece. Shots were 41-29 with the advantage going to RU. Next up on the schedule is a two game home stand starting Friday at 11p.m. in Roanoke when Appalachian State comes calling. Saturday, the Highlanders have a huge game with the University of Richmond. Game time on Saturday is at 6 p.m. For more information, log onto www.radfordhockey.com




RU disappoints fans with a tie to William and Mary!

        Lately the only thing the Radford ice hockey team seems to do well is sit in the penalty box. Coming off an ugly 6-3 win last week over North Carolina State, the Highlanders were poised to come out big at home against William and Mary on Saturday. Radford collected another sixteen minutes in penalties as they tied W&M 2-2.
        Despite out shooting the Tribe 45-21, W&M goaltender Nathan Miller stole the show. In the first period, play was back and forth, with several quality chances at both ends. The Tribe had some very fast skaters and kept RU on their toes with one chance beating Radford goaltender Jason Johns but luckily hit the post to stay out of the net. W&M got on the board first when Radford got caught on a defensive breakdown. Steve Kirschbaum broke into the Radford zone with a 2 on 1. Kirschbaum hit winger Dave Rose with a good pass, who then fired a perfect shot past Highlander goaltender Jason Johns. After a period of play, RU was outshooting the Tribe 15-9 but could not yet beat Miller. The second period started much as the first had ended, with W&M out skating Radford despite having fewer players than the Highlanders. All it takes is one play to change momentum, as the Tribe was about to discover. Highlander defenseman Adam Toghill laid a huge check along the boards to the W&M winger. Play was stopped for several minutes, as the W&M player laid nearly motionless
along the boards. Once play resumed, the Highlanders were flying. Louis Smith tied the score at 1-1 when he finally beat Miller with a high shot. Assists on the Smith goal went to Sean Buckley and Nick Safford. Just under three minutes later, the Highlanders jumped out to the lead when Nate Ward Dahl beat Miller high to the glove side for his team leading 6th goal of the season. On the ensuing faceoff, W&M controlled the puck and got into the Radford zone. Eric
Gauger curled low below the goal line and tucked the puck to Johns short side to tie the score at 2-2.
        Radford again dominated the third period offensively, but Miller was there to shut the door. His biggest save came late in the game with a point blank save on Eric Braese. Braese tipped the puck, which hit Millers glove then the post and stayed out of the net. Radford also had a chance in the final seconds that Miller stopped brilliantly. The tie was a disappointment for Radford, who remains in first place in the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference with a
5-1-1 record. For more information, log onto www.radfordhockey.com

RU gets season started with a pair of wins!

          The Radford club ice hockey team hit the road on Saturday for a late night contest with North Carolina State in Raleigh, NC. Coming off an impressive 4-2 win over Hampton Roads last weekend, the Highlanders should have had all the momentum in the world. The long drive late at night could have been at fault, as the Highlanders came out of the gate slowly. Despite being much faster and more finely tuned than NCS, Radford struggled early to get any sort of momentum going. Dan Clairmonte finally got the ball rolling midway through the first period when he beat his man on a 2 on 2 and fooled the NCS goaltender with a shot between the pads to make it 1-0 RU. After one period of play, Radford was out shooting NCS 15-6 but could not find much pay dirt. After an inspirational between period speech, the Highlanders began to take charge. Drew Furrows made it 2-0 when he snapped a low shot to the far post and beat NCS goaltender Mike Baxter. Just over two minutes later, RU made it 3-0 when Louis Smith poked home a rebound goal over Baxter’s glove. Radford got sloppy afterwards, taking several penalties in a row. The Wolfpack jumped at the opportunity and scored when John Scott snuck a short side shot past David Kennedy to cut into the Highlander lead. After some back and forth action, Nate Ward-Dahl extended Radford’s lead to 4-1 when he beat NCS backup goaltender Nick Brown on a rebound shot through traffic. NCS got some pressure on Kennedy, but he made some crucial saves to keep NCS at bay. On a sloppy performance at their own blue line, the RU winger lost the puck as his line mates were streaking up ice to join the rush. The resulting turnover allowed NCS center Eric Skupa to walk in and beat Kennedy to trim the RU lead to 4-2. Smith made it 5-2 for Radford late in the second period on another rebound goal past Brown. After a resurface, NCS came out skating hard, forcing RU to take several penalties. 10 of the 18 minutes in the third period, Radford was shorthanded. NCS broke through on another power play, when John Hubbard fired a shot to the far post past Kennedy. After a regrouping timeout, Kennedy and the defense stepped up to the plate, keeping a relentless NCS attack off the scoreboard. Ward-Dahl finished the scoring for RU with an empty net goal to make the final 6-3.
        Radford improves to 4-1 on the year with another gutsy performance. Shots for the game were an impressive 42-18, with the advantage going to RU. Remaining in first place in the BRHC, RU next plays William and Mary on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Roanoke. Come out and support the fast, exciting, hard
hitting Radford hockey team.