On Oct. 4, Ramapo’s ice hockey team triumphed over Fordham University in a thrilling battle between the two teams. Ramapo took home the win on an overtime goal made by Robert Wogisch with one minute to go in the period.
The game bitterly began with an unassisted goal from Fordham’s Luke Lowe with nine minutes left in the first period. The Rams later increased their lead to 2-0 in the first period with a goal from Piotr Kszczot and an assist from Anthony Kulp. Twenty seconds after the goal, Kszczot took his celebrations too far and received a two-minute penalty for roughing, followed immediately by a ten-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The Roadrunners took advantage of the two-minute power play despite the tensions rising in the rink. With two minutes left in the first period, Daniel Kulbanskiy scored Ramapo’s first goal of the game with assists from Matthew Cochran and Brock Fizer. The score remained 2-1 in favor of Fordham going into the second period.
In the second period, Fordham kept their lead with goals from both the Rams and the Roadrunners. Two minutes into the second period, Fordham’s Daniel Koehler scored with an assist from Christopher Lordi. Ramapo retaliated nine minutes later with a goal from Daniel Phillips and an assist from James Sonvico.
The second period was littered with penalties against both teams, including a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Lordi shortly after Ramapo’s goal. The Roadrunners also faced hiccups when Fizer received a two-minute penalty for interference. Ramapo also received a two-minute penalty against Devin Haines for having too many players in uniform. Despite Fordham’s opportunities to extend the lead, the score remained 3-2 at the end of the second period.
Fordham took control early on in the third period when Carmine Pittelli scored their final goal of the game. Once again, both teams struggled to avoid penalties in the third quarter, which ultimately led to Fordham’s demise. After a penalty against Fordham’s Anthony Kulp for slashing, Cochran took advantage of the powerplay and scored with an assist from Brian Atwell. The Roadrunners would even up the score eight minutes later during a power play after a penalty against Lordi for too many players on the ice. Cochran, once again, delivered the game-tying shot with an assist from Kulbanskiy to lead the team into overtime. In overtime, Wogisch scored the game-winning goal against Fordham with an assist from Tommy Korpics.
The following day, Ramapo brought home a massive win against Neumann University, beating their hockey team 7-1.
The first period started off slow with a two-minute boarding penalty against Fizer. The period remained scoreless until the final two minutes when Cochran delivered a goal against Neumann with assists from Korpics and Haines. The score remained 1-0 at the end of the first period.
There was a lot of action in the second period with four goals scored and eight penalties, six of which were against Neumann. Fizer started out strong with a goal less than two minutes into the period, assisted by Atwell and Cochran. Before another goal could be scored, Neumann received five penalties and Ramapo received one. Despite the chaos on the ice, Cochran scored another goal with another assist from Atwell.
Two minutes later, Brady Vella took advantage of the Roadrunners’ power play and scored an unassisted goal against Neumann. Neumann fought back 40 seconds later during the power play with a shorthanded goal from Aiden Grabowski, assisted by Nick Fonseca and Finn Plummer. The second period ended with a score of 4-1 in favor of Ramapo.
The third period ensued and the Roadrunners absolutely crushed it. Neumann would face four penalties during the period, two of which were major and resulted in five-minute penalties.
The Roadrunners faced a penalty 30 seconds into the period against Ty Watson for interference. This did not stop them, as Vella scored his first goal of the period just five minutes in with an assist from Kulbanskiy. Seven minutes later, Atwell scored with assists from Adam Moskal and Phillips. For their last goal of the game, Vella scored his second goal with assists from Cochran and Timothy Wanvig, extending the lead to 7-1.
Cory Hemberger and Andrew McGinley, two players for Neumann University, received major penalties with three minutes left in the game for fighting and contact to the head. No goals were scored after their removal from the game.
Ramapo will play Stevens Institute of Technology on Friday, Oct. 11, at 7:45 p.m. at home.
bkeatin1@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @tessapofahlphotos, Instagram
