By Mike Salerno
Fairfield, CT – Rob Yawman’s acrobatic third period tally with just under 4 minutes to play and the strong play of goaltender Damian Andraka powered the Men’s Ice Hockey team to a convincing 4-3 win against conference rival Fairfield Saturday at The Wonderland of Ice in Connecticut. The Pride returned to the site of their quarterfinal loss at the hands of the Stags last February in the Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference playoffs on a mission to quiet a hostile crowd and right the ship after a 1-2 start to the season in Albany a week ago.
Andraka stood tall for the Pride, stopping 43 of 46 shots, including six in the waning moments of the game as Fairfield desperately pressed for the tying goal. “They were coming hard at us all night but we held our ground and capitalized on our opportunities,” said the goaltender. “Everyone did their job and we just played our hearts out and came out on top. And to come through for the guys when they needed me the most, there is no better feeling than that.”
Yawman has had a knack for scoring clutch goals, leading the team in that category last season. If there is a portrayal of Rangers’ center Chris Drury in the MCHC, Rob Yawman surely qualifies. The game-winning goal came with 3:20 to play in regulation. Defenseman Tom Germano fired the puck from the blue line on goal. Fairfield goaltender Kevin Curtis blockered the shot in the air and Yawman batted it down with the blade of his stick barely under the crossbar trickling over the goal line. The Fairfield bench erupted in opposition of the call, but to no avail, as the referees allowed the goal to stand.
Fairfield struck first at the 1:37 mark of the opening period and was dominating the play early on. Had it not been for some key saves by Andraka, the game could’ve easily gotten away from Hofstra early. Midway through the first period, sophomore center Dan Lio caught a breakout pass from defenseman Alex Nucera and carried it into the offensive zone down the right wing boards. He fired a shot high glove side that beat Curtis to knot it at 1.
It stayed that way until early on in the second period, when freshman Rob Derosa took a pass from junior Craig Zecca that split the Stags’ defense and gave Derosa a breakaway. The rookie forward shot glove side off Curtis’ glove and in to give the Pride a 2-1 edge. At that point, the Pride had seized command of the game and the crowd, who had suddenly gone from overbearing to deathly quiet in just a few moments.
A momentary defensive lapse allowed the Stags an opportunity to swing the momentum back to their end, as they capitalized on a 2 on 1 with a tap-in goal to tie the game again at 2. Not long after, the Pride ran into some penalty trouble. Down two men, Hofstra fell victim to the Stags’ skilled power play unit, one of the main reasons they were so successful a year ago. Fairfield forward Will McPherson ripped a shot from the right circle that deflected off a Hofstra defender, then off the post and in to make it 3-2.
The crowd was once again electrified as it surely seemed the Stags would take the one goal advantage into the locker room. However, an aggressive play by Tom Germano carrying the puck deep into the offensive zone paid huge dividends for the Pride. Nearing the net, he flipped the puck over a diving Curtis to Derosa for an open net goal, his second of the night, that once again tied the teams going into the intermission.
Hofstra killed off a plethora of Fairfield power plays during the third period, relying on Andraka to come up with key saves time and time again. Yawman’s goal came at even strength, but the Pride were forced to kill off another penalty with 50 seconds left. An empty net at the other end of the ice, gave the Stags a 6-on-4 man advantage. Andraka made six saves on this penalty kill to keep the game from reaching overtime.
The win brought Hofstra back to 2-2 on the year, while the Stags suffered their first loss of the season to drop to 2-1. Next up for the Pride is their home opener against Union College, a team entering its first full season of club hockey in the MCHC. The game is Saturday, October 27 at 7 p.m. at Long Beach Arena, roughly 10 minutes away from campus. Come out and support the Pride in their first conference game on Long Island.