By Mike Salerno
Hofstra’s men’s ice hockey team moved to a game above .500 with a 10-7 win over Union College Saturday night in Long Beach. But you had no idea, because you weren’t there. Hardly anyone was.
What should’ve been an easy win for the Pride turned into quite a struggle after going into the dressing room down 2-1 after the first period. Craig Zecca’s breakaway goal from a beautiful feed by Dan Lio was the only highlight of the opening stanza for the Pride. However, coming out for the second, Union wasted no time, scoring just 40 seconds into the frame to up their lead to 3-1.
Not long after, the Pride were given an opportunity to get back within one on the power play. Dan Lio followed up his own rebound and roofed it taking advantage of a 2-on-1 rush to cut the lead to 3-2. This goal seemingly opened the floodgates, as the Pride reeled off a stretch of 6 unanswered goals in 7 minutes to take a commanding 6-3 lead.
Scoring was spread as Zecca, Lio, Billy Bowerman, Rich Hackford and team captain Kevin Sheerin all scored for the Pride in the 2nd period.
During that run, goaltender Damian Andraka stopped a penalty shot that was awarded to Union. This save was ultimately overlooked, but it was made at a key moment to preserve the Pride’s two goal advantage.
The offensive show turned ugly in the 3rd period. After trading goals early on, Hofstra led 8-4. Forward Rich Hackford was cross-checked in the chin by a Union defenseman. Tempers flared as Hackford’s teammates quickly came to his aid, none more than defenseman Matt Lavelle, who manhandled the aggressor, earning himself 2 penalty minutes. The referee called a match penalty, ejecting the player from the game. On the ensuing power play, Hackford took the puck from the corner and skated out around the bottom of the circle. Remarkably, he sniped the top right corner of the net, which seemed to be completely closed off, to give the Pride an emphatic 9-4 lead with 12:22 to play.
Union got back in the game with a pair of goals 26 seconds apart to cut the lead to 9-6. After scoring to make it 9-7 with 1:13 to play, they called a timeout and pulled their goaltender. Andraka made two saves before sophomore Tyler Kevorkian skated the puck into their zone and scored on the empty net to seal the victory.
The raucous crowd, all 12 of them, heckled the Union goaltender beyond comprehension. It was truly one of the better offensive onslaughts Hofstra has ever displayed and there was virtually nobody there to see it. Now granted, the fact that Halloween may have left a few more seats empty than usual can’t be ignored, but when the away team’s crowd travels all the way from Schenectady to see their boys play, you can’t help but wonder why nobody at Hofstra can make it to an 8 p.m. faceoff.
The games are played at the Arena of Long Beach, roughly 15 minutes from campus. If you take that trip down the Meadowbrook parkway just a few times to see the team play, like this Saturday against Fordham University, you can strengthen their case to attain fan buses to bring you to the games free of charge, much like conference rivals Fairfield and Albany already do.