By By Dave Diamond
How hard is it to build on a near championship season? Pride ice hockey head coach Brian Ferrara can sum up the answer with a reoccurring statement in recent weeks.
“We’re gaining a lot of respect out there,” he said after two losses in the team’s inaugural games in the American Collegiate Hockey Association this weekend.
What the Pride is not gaining, unfortunately, is wins. The team is struggling in the early season, perhaps reeling from losing major contributors Chris Hogan and Brian Manolakes, in addition to Ferrara, who was team captain only a year ago.
After a 6-4 loss at the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown and a 5-2 loss at St. Vincent’s University, the Pride finds itself with a record of 3-3-0-1, a far cry from being undefeated in regulation last season.
“We could have definitely beaten both teams,” Ferrara said, which he considers a good thing, since Johnstown and St. Vincent’s are ranked one and three in the Atlantic Region of the ACHA Division III Rankings, respectively. However, the 0-2 start in the newly joined association is certainly a downer.
A worse sign for the team is a three-game winless streak stemming from a 3-2 overtime shootout loss to main rival SUNY Albany on Oct. 29. Also, after a home game Saturday against St. Rose University, the Pride embark on a four-game road trip, and do not return to Long Beach Arena until Dec. 3.
By then, the Pride will be more than halfway through its season and will have a much better understanding of where it sits in the Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC). Three of the road games are against Island Region foes Nassau Community College, SUNY Farmingdale and Briarcliffe. The other is against MCHC powerhouse Fordham University.
Of course, there are positives along the Pride’s path thus far. The youngsters on the team such as Max Koeppel and Adam Moore have fit in nicely on defense, while goaltender George Lorenz continues to impress every team in the league.
“Both coaches [over the weekend] told me he was the best goalie they’ve ever seen in this league,” Ferrara said.
Lorenz is carrying a heavy load since it is apparent that the Pride is struggling to buy into the defense-first system that carried the team to new heights last season. Ferrara said after the Albany game the Pride need to start putting some offensive support in front of a no-mistakes, stingy defensive effort for the team to find success again.
The disappointment is apparent on the face of defensive coach Brian Manolakes with every game the Pride gives up far more goals than it should. The team set a goal early in the season to keep opposing teams to three goals or less, but have only accomplished the feat twice in its first seven games.
Unfortunately for the Pride, one of those efforts was the heartbreaking loss to Albany.