Ice Hockey: Men's
Blue team rallies from behind in Blue/White game
Four unanswered goals by the Blue team in the Icers' annual Blue/White game resulted in a 5-3 victory Friday night at the Ice Pavilion.
The four goals, all coming in the second half, began with sophomore defender Nate Jensen, collecting freshman forward Tommy Olczyk’s rebound and putting the puck past goaltender Matt Madrazo.
Senior Nick Seravalli tied the contest at three apiece, and sophomore forward Justin Kirchhevel scored back-to-back goals in a span of just three minutes.
Kirchhevel said a month of practice was tough and the sophomore added he was glad to finally get a chance to play in a game.
“It’s definitely good to get our feet wet and get in a game situation again and have fans for once,” Kirchhevel said. “It’s definitely a good start.”
Assistant coach Keith Fisher said the guys are sick of practicing and the Blue/White game was not only good for the players, but the coaches as well.
“It’s nice for the coaching staff to evaluate guys in a game setting versus practice,” Fisher said. “They are two different things and a lot of times you get two different players.”
Freshman Brandon Russo and seniors Chris Cerutti and Dan Petrick were out of the lineup due to injuries. Cerutti injured his left knee on Aug. 23, and Icers coach Guy Gadowsky confirmed on Aug. 24 the forward sustained a Grade II medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain. Petrick is out with a small fracture in his left wrist.
Fisher couldn’t say much about Russo’s injury.
“I don’t know too much specifically about it, but he’ll be out for a couple weeks probably,” Fisher said.
The Blue/White game was two, 30-minute halves with a running clock.
As for the next week, the Icers have their first regular season game Oct. 7 against Lebanon Valley at the Ice Pavilion.