Spiders Split A Pair With Seahawks
1/22/12
This past weekend, the University of Richmond Ice Hockey team looked to get themselves back in the picture for Regionals with a pair of home games against BRHC-Colonial newcomer UNC-Wilmington. On Friday night, The Spiders and Seahawks got the scoring started early, as Richmond’s Tucker Blanton struck less than a minute into the game on assists from Ryan Jacobsen and Ben Weisburger. Richmond was able to maintain the lead throughout the period, and extended it to 2-0 with a few minutes left in the period when Senior forward Ryan Harrity pumped in a goal on assists from Mike Bosserman and Robbie Poirier. The Spiders would take the 2-0 lead into the locker room.
Early in the second period, UNC-Wilmington got on the board to cut the Spiders’ lead to one. Midway through the period, Freshman Roberto Poirier struck on the power-play to make it 3-1 in favor of Richmond. Sophomore forward Ben Weisburger would get the only assist on the play. Tucker Blanton would make it 4-1 just a few minutes later, with Weisburger once again garnering the lone helper. Towards the end of the period, the Seahawks garnered some momentum, adding two goals to trim the Spiders’ lead to one.
As the teams took the ice for the third period, UNC-Wilmington grabbed an early goal to tie the score at four. Junior forward Tucker Blanton would give the Spiders the lead just three minutes later on a dreamy unassisted effort to complete the hat trick. Two minutes later, UNC-Wilmington would tie the score at five, before taking their first lead of the game with seven minutes remaining. The Spiders continued to put pressure on the Seahawks as the clock wore down, and Freshman forward Bob The Builder Poirier unleashed a booming slap-shot with just three minutes remaining to tie the game at six.
The game would head into overtime, and the Spiders quickly found themselves in a bit of trouble, as they would be forced to kill off a four minute penalty. Richmond’s penalty killing unit would hold strong for the overtime, coupled with Charlie Boles making 11 saves in the extra frame, as the Spiders would hang on for a shootout. As the shootout began, neither team was able to find the back of the net, with Charlie Boles stopping all three Seahawks shooters. Matt Burns buried the game winner for the Spiders, allowing them to escape with a wild 7-6 victory.
On Saturday night, Richmond looked to carry the momentum from their shootout victory on Friday night into Saturday’s tilt. Matt Burns picked up right where he left off, giving the Spiders the early lead on an assist from Finn McCarthy. The Spiders would control the play for much of the first period, but were not able to add to the lead, and would head into the locker room with a 1-0 lead.
In the second period, the wheels seemed to fall off of the Spiders, as UNC-Wilmington was able to pop three goals in, taking a 3-1 lead into the locker room. Early in the third period, UNC-Wilmington would add two more early goals to stretch their lead to 5-1. Freshman forward Robert Poirier would temporarily stop the bleeding on assists from Tucker Blanton and Ben Weisburger. The assist would be Weisburger’s team leading 30th assist of the season. The Spiders were unable to garner any momentum from the goal, and a few more late UNC-Wilmington goals would continue to worsen the score, as the Spiders fell by a final score of 7-2.
After the weekend, Richmond moves to 8-11-0 (4-4-0). The Spiders will have a big week of practice this week, as they will prepare for the biggest weekend of the season next weekend as they will host the annual Rumble in Richmond Tournament. The Spiders will face Salisbury University on Friday at 5:30 PM, Loyola on Saturday at 4:10 PM, and Catholic University on Sunday at 11:30 AM. All games will be played at the Richmond Ice Zone, and admission is free. Come out and support your Spiders as they attempt to get their season back on the right track.
In other news, URhockey.com is pleased to announce this week’s Lauritano Appraisal Services Player of the Week Award. After much consideration, URhockey.com is pleased to announce that this week’s recipient of the award is Freshman forward Robbie Poirier. Poirier constructed an impressive weekend, collecting three goals and one assist, including the game-tying goal on Friday night. Congratulations Robbie!
Other candidates for the Lauritano Appraisal Services Player of the Week Award Were:
- Junior forward Tucker Blanton: The junior sniper contributed a hat trick on Friday night, and also had two assists on the weekend.
- Junior forward Matt Burns: Burns had another solid weekend in a Richmond jersey, scoring the game winning goal in the shootout on Friday night. Mr. Burns also buried a goal on Saturday night.
URhockey.com is also pleased to announce this week’s Rowdy Scratch of the Week Award. After much consideration, URhockey.com is pleased to announce that freshman goaltender Victor Nichols is this week’s recipient. Nichols (the only two-time Rowdy Scratch winner) provided excellent support for the team, and sported impeccable fashion, rocking the suit with sneakers look like a true stallion. Congratulations Victor!!
Spiders Struggle in Raleigh
1/15/12
This past weekend, the University of Richmond Ice Hockey team opened up their spring semester of play by participating in the Stephen Russell Memorial Tournament, hosted by North Carolina State University. The Spiders knew that this weekend would be tougher than usual, as six regulars were out of the lineup (including the team’s leading marksman Ben Weisburger) due to Greek life obligations. However, Richmond would receive a boost in the lineup as Senior captain Mike Bosserman would return from an undisclosed upper body injury that sidelined him for much of the Fall semester. Last season’s leading scorer Tucker Blanton would also return from a semester in Europe, and defenseman Finn McCarthy would return to the team after a year and a half hiatus.
On Friday night, the Spiders would face off against #13 UNC-Charlotte. Richmond rushed out to an early 1-0 lead as Tucker Blanton converted on the power-play for his first tally of the season on assists from Ryan Harrity and Wes Harty. Charlotte would answer back a few minutes later to tie the game at one. Richmond would take the lead with just 50 seconds remaining in the period, as Ryan Harrity pumped in a goal on assists from Matt Burns and Michael Cerapak. Junior forward John Danyluk would stretch the lead to two with just 17 seconds remaining in the period on assists from Wes Harty and Tucker Blanton. Richmond would take the 3-1 lead into the locker room.
At the start of the second period, Richmond would begin to pour it on as John Danyluk made it 4-1 on assists from Jamie Wilson and Matt Burns. Senior captain Mike Bosserman would add a tally of his own just a few minutes later to make it 5-1. Wes Harty would get the lone helper on the play. Just two minutes later, Charlotte would finally stop the bleeding, scoring a goal of their own to make it 5-2. However, it was not long again until junior forward Matt Burns opened the wound back up, making it 6-2 Richmond on assists from Tucker Blanton and Mike Bosserman. Senior Jamie Wilson would make it 7-2 in favor of the Spiders on assists from John Danyluk and Ryan Harrity. A few minutes later, the Spiders would begin to slip out of their funk, as Charlotte would add two goals before the end of the period to make it 7-4 Richmond. In the third, Charlotte continued to trim the deficit, but the Spiders were able to hang on for a 7-6 victory.
On Saturday, the Spiders would have their hands full again, as they faced off against D2 UNC-Chapel Hill. The Spiders would come out a bit slow in the first period, as UNC was able to jump out to a 1-0 lead, which would hold strong through the end of the period.
Early on in the second period, Richmond was able to tie the score at one as Tucker Blanton displayed excellent hand-eye coordination on a nifty deflection. Wes Harty and Mike Bosserman would collect assists on the play. UNC would answer back a few minutes later to regain the lead. Richmond’s Matt Burns would tie the score at two on assist from Wes Harty just a few minutes later. UNC would continue to create the see-saw effect in the game, retaking the lead midway through the second period. The Spiders would answer again just five minutes later, as Matt Burns would bury his second goal of the game on an assist from Aubry Dicks. The score would remain tied at three through the remainder of the period as the teams would head to the locker room to regroup their thoughts.
Early on in the third, UNC would make it 4-3 to regain the lead. Just three minutes later, Tucker Blanton would tie the game at four on assists from Mike Bosserman and Matt Burns. The score would remain tied until the final minute, when UNC would go for the jugular with only 12 seconds remaining, allowing them to pick up a 5-4 victory.
On Sunday morning, Richmond faced off in the third place game of the tournament, facing UNC-Charlotte for the second time of the weekend at the RBC Center in Raleigh. While Friday’s game between the two teams was nothing short of fire-wagon hockey, Sunday’s match was much more of a defensive grudge match. The two teams would play to a scoreless first period. In the second period, Ryan Harrity would break the ice and give the Spiders the lead early in the second period on assists from Brenden Gallinek and Jamie Wilson. Charlotte would answer back later in the period, and the teams would enter the locker room tied at one. In the third period, the teams would play at a back and forth pace for much of the period, with Charlotte breaking the tie with only a few minutes remaining. Charlotte would add an empty netter, and the Spiders would drop the game by the final score of 3-1. Jack Merriman was strong in net for the Spiders, stopping 28 Charlotte shots.
The weekend drops the Spiders to 7-10-0 (3-3-0). Richmond will regain the remainder of their roster this week in practice, and will face #15 UNC-Wilmington twice at home this weekend on Friday and Saturday. The puck will drop at 11:10 PM on Friday, and 8:30 PM on Saturday. Make sure to stop by the Richmond Ice Zone to see your Spiders in action.
In other news, URhockey.com is pleased to announce this week’s Lauritano Appraisal Services Player of the Week Award. After much consideration, URhockey.com is pleased to announce that the recipient of this week’s award is Junior defenseman Wes Harty. The man formerly known as Marty Weston stepped up to a new level this weekend. In addition to being rock solid in the defensive zone, Harty also added five assists to his contributions this weekend. Congratulations Wes!
Other nominees for the Lauritano Appraisal Services Player of the Week Award were:
- Senior Captain Mike Bosserman. The Senior triumphantly returned from injury and contributed 1 goal and 3 assists over the weekend. Bosserman also contributed numerous intangibles throughout the weekend, bringing excellent senior leadership to the table.
- Junior forward Tucker Blanton. The junior made a big splash in his first weekend back with Richmond after his semester abroad, collecting 3 goals and 2 assists. Blanton was also an integral part of the Spiders special teams units, playing many shifts on both the power-play and penalty kill.
- Junior forward Matt Burns. Burns, a usual grinder unleashed the sniper inside this weekend, adding 3 goals and 3 assists to the effort.
In other news, URhockey.com is also pleased to announce this week’s Rowdy Scratch of the Week. While there were no scratches with the team this weekend due to a short bench, an anonymous source has assisted the webmaster in selecting this week’s Rowdy Scratch of the Week: Freshman defenseman Connor Koorbusch. Word on the street is that Koorbusch got an extra dose of rowdiness throughout the entire week as it was rush week at UR, earning his first ever Rowdy Scratch of the Week award. Congratulations Connor!!
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