By Dave Diamond
It became apparent during a 6-3 victory over St. Thomas Saturday night that there is only one team that can truly halt the Pride’s Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC) title run. The Pride.
Call them overconfident, but members of Pride Ice Hockey see no reason why their string of success should stop anytime soon. “We expect nothing less,” captain Brian Ferrara said.
It is certainly hard to argue with Ferrara, considering the team finished the regular season unbeaten in regulation (15-0-0-1) and will hold the second seed in the one-game elimination playoffs. Albany (15-0-1-0) won the MCHC regular season championship due to a tiebreaker after defeating the Pride in an overtime shootout Nov. 13. Since the Pride fell behind early in that game and still found a way to force the shootout, in conjunction with a favorable playoff schedule, the Pride likes its chances against Albany in a potential finals match.
The playoff game this coming Saturday will take place at Long Beach Arena, home to the Pride. Should the Pride advance, the semi-finals and finals would both take place in an arena also on the Island, giving them a home ice advantage, of sorts, against any upstate team that may cross their path. “Being home and not traveling to far is a big advantage,” head coach John Ferrara said.
The variables are only half the battle, considering there is still hockey to be played. However, sporting a team that is first in the conference in goals scored (120) and second in the conference in goals allowed (39), the Pride likes its chances.
“The guys have all made a commitment to each other over the last month. We came together and everyone’s been working real hard for each other,” said senior Chris Hogan after scoring two goals in the season finale. “The individualism got thrown out the window, and the coaches are a real big reason for that.”
Co-head coaches Ferrara and Ron Reif certainly have contributed to the bulk of the Pride’s success in building a defense first mentality. With the outstanding tandem of George Lorenz and Chris Dasti in goal, the Pride’s game plan has been the same despite periods of high scoring.
“The defense started off shaky this year, definitely,” defenseman Brian Manolakes said.
Some of the inconsistency could have been attributed to players moving from forward to defense like Manolakes and fellow blue-liner Jon Schroll.
“Our offense scores a lot of the goals, but our defense is keeping it down to two or three goals a night,” Manolakes said. “I know when we keep the other team below that, our offense will double it.”
Make no mistake about the Pride. While the team continues to be confident in the talent and system, it will not take any playoff opponent lightly. The relaxed attitude cost them a 9-1 playoff loss last year to Fordham. “We were kind of laid-back in our attitude,” said Ferrara. “They just came and spanked us, and it was kind of a shock. The team doesn’t want that to happen again this year.”
It also is no secret that the upcoming playoff push will be quite the experience for the young Pride, which features 15 underclassmen out of 23 players on the roster. “Some of these young players don’t know what it’s like to go through the 13-0 trounces and the 2-12 record,” Ferrara said.
With such an inexperienced team, Ferrara looks to maintain the team’s focus. “We’re staying to our systems, and playing within our game,” he said. The other main focus? “To win.”