Ramapo Ice Hockey Team Remains One of the Best

Photo courtesy of Ramapo Ice Hockey

The Ramapo club ice hockey team has remained one of the hottest hockey teams in the nation, increasing their season-opening winning streak to 11 games.

The Roadrunners defeated Lafayette on Friday night by a score of 5-1, and then took down Hofstra on Sunday by a score of 4-1.

First-year head coach Bob Smith said 11 wins in a row is surprising.

“Prior to this season, being new to the program, I didn’t really know much about how last year went. Not knowing the talent level we had. But it’s working out well for us so far.”

On Friday, freshman forward Kyle Debel lit up the lamp with the first goal of the game at the 6:59 mark of the first period.

In the second period, however, things got testy after a scrum in front of the Lafayette goal led to three penalties being distributed amongst the two teams. 

Another Ramapo penalty a minute later gave Lafayette a 4-on-3 advantage, and two more Roadrunners would enter the penalty box soon after, leading to Lafayette to tie it up at a goal a piece.

“You’re upset with the calls, but we were confident our kids were able to kill it off,” said Smith. “We felt that we can take advantage of their defense, and that’s what the kids did. They didn’t get down at all. They knew what they had to do. They were talkative on the ice, on the bench, pushing one another.”

After finally killing the penalties, junior forward Josh Filipovits found the back of the net to give Ramapo a 2-1 lead. Freshman forward Dan Demarco followed with a goal just under three minutes later, followed by another goal from Debel as the Roadrunners closed out the second period with a 4-1 lead.

Junior goalie Keith Gay stopped 10 shots in the third period, 26 in all, while Demarco put the icing on the cake with the Roadrunners’ fifth and final goal of the game, which was also his second.

On Sunday, Hofstra arrived at the Sport-O-Rama looking to spoil the Ramapo party. They did so early on with a goal just 22 seconds into the second period. However, sophomore defenseman Ryan Worth tied it up five minutes later.

The Roadrunners ran away with their 11th straight victory with three goals scored — Demarco and junior forward Matt Rose and Zack O’Connor were the goal scorers for Ramapo.

Gay has let up just two goals in the last three games, and the Roadrunners outshot Hofstra 47-15 in the game.

“It takes pressure off of our goaltender, knowing he doesn’t have to stand on his head,” said the head coach.

The Roadrunners will have a Veterans’ Day celebration prior to the 8:30 p.m. puck drop on Friday night against Stevens Institute of Technology.

“The kids are looking forward to it. We’re hoping for a big turnout,” said Smith. “I think it’s a really good cause. Without those guys serving our country, we might not be out there being able to play hockey and having the freedom we do have.”