The Ramapo ice hockey season came to an end in West Chester, Pennsylvania after an 0-3 run at the Amateur Athletic Union’s National Championships. The Roadrunners entered the tournament at the No. 20 seed and fell to No. 1 Florida Atlantic University (FAU), No. 10 Penn State University and No. 15 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU).
Their first game came on March 8 against FAU, where they fell 5-2. The Owls got on the board first with a power play goal from Jacob Friedman, assisted by Christian Cotter. Five minutes later, FAU added another goal courtesy of Matt Beraldi.
It wasn’t until facing a 3-0 deficit in the second period when the Roadrunners got into the scoring column. Anthony Fizer netted his first goal of the tournament off assists from Rory Maurer and Thomas Moskal, and was immediately followed by a Maurer goal assisted by Alex Cohen.
Down 3-2 entering the final period of action, the Roadrunners couldn’t find the offense needed to tie up the game, allowing two closing goals to FAU’s Justin Greenberg and Leon Biller. The physicality of the game escalated to the point where there were over 70 combined penalty minutes, leading to six of the seven total goals scored coming on power play opportunities.
In net for Ramapo, Paul Fiorello saved 39 of 44 Owl shot attempts, while FAU’s Rocco Bruno recorded 24 saves on 26 Roadrunner shot attempts.
The next day, Ramapo took on the Penn State Nittany Lions, where they fell once again 5-2. Penn State got out to a hot start, scoring four unanswered goals in the first period of action, highlighted by two goals from Blake Hanson.
Midway through the second period, Michael Piccinich scored the first goal of the game for the Roadrunners off an assist from Maurer. Less than a minute later, the Nittany Lions regained their four-goal lead when Paul Smith scored off an assist from Hanson.
Down 5-1 entering the final period, Maurer scored his second goal of the tournament off assists from Fizer and Moskal. That was all the Roadrunners had for offense, however, as the score went final at 5-2.
In goal for Ramapo, Fiorello saved 20 of 25 shot attempts from Penn State, while Nittany Lions’ goalie Jason Soule saved 26 of 28 Roadrunner shot attempts.
Finally, Ramapo closed out their weekend against ERAU, falling 10-1. The Eagles saw goals from seven different players in this one, including multiple goals from Billy Callahan, Bryce Korner and Tobey Cram.
Ramapo’s lone goal came from Moskal early in the second period, unassisted. Fiorello started the game and allowed six goals on ERAU’s first 18 shot attempts. He was replaced in the second period by backup goalie Bryan Bartles, who saved 25 shots on 29 attempts. For the Eagles, Lucas Holland saved 22 of 23 Roadrunner shot attempts.
When it was all said and done, the Roadrunners finished with a 12-9-2 regular season record, good for fourth place in the Empire Conference. Moskal led the team with 46 total points, while Fizer finished first with 28 goals. Fizer also recorded four hat tricks on the season, leading the team.
wjackso2@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Amalie Hindash
