Men's hockey takes home two wins against Naval Academy

02/13/09 - Last weekend the University of Rhode Island men's club ice hockey team (19-9-1) traveled to the United States Naval Academy (12-20-3) for a two-game weekend series and prevailed in both games, winning 9-1 and 5-2, respectively."I feel like we played really well," sophomore defenseman EJ Astarita said. "[The Naval Academy] They are a tough team, they work so hard."

In the first of the two games, URI scored early and often. Sophomore Peter Ducharme got things going five minutes into play, scoring his fourth goal of the season to put the Rams up 1-0.

With five minutes remaining in the first period, senior Ben Herring was set up by sophomore Kyle Krannich and freshman Dan Lassik for his goal that would double URI's lead. At period's end, the Rams were up 2-0.

Just two minutes into the second period, Krannich scored a goal of his own to extend Rhody's lead to 3-0.

Navy experienced déj… vu midway through the second period, when both Ducharme and Herring both scored their second goals of the game within a span of 15 seconds to put URI up 5-0.

Heading into the third period with a five-goal lead, the Rams showed no signs of slowing down. They continued to pour it on, with goals by Krannich, sophomore Paul Doran, freshman Richie Falasca and sophomore David Sheehan to made the lead 9-0.

"We really exploded offensively," Astarita said. "We haven't done that all year."

With six minutes remaining, freshman goalie Joe Spagnoli's shutout was broken when Matt Swezey scored for the Midshipmen. After 60 minutes of hockey, the Rams had a 9-1 victory.

"Joe Spagnoli has been great for us all season," Astarita said. "Ever since he's been starting we've been winning a lot more games."

Krannich scored two goals and added two assists for the Rams, leading the game in scoring with four points. Herring and Ducharme both added an assist to their two-goal performances, finishing with three points a piece. Sheehan also added three points with a goal and two assists.

In the second game of the weekend, URI continued to persevere. After nine minutes of back-and-forth defensive hockey, freshman defenseman Mike O'Brien added effort on the offensive side, scoring to get the Rams a quick 1-0 lead.

Senior captain Cory Manley scored his 16th goal of the season on the power play to put the Rams up 2-0. Krannich scored his third goal of the weekend in the last five minutes of the first period, putting URI up three goals after 20 minutes of hockey.

"They came out with a lot of energy in the second game after losing the night before," Astarita said. "It was also their senior night."

Facing a three-goal deficit, Navy needed to get on the board early in the second period. Swezey accomplished this when he scored his second goal of the weekend, cutting URI's lead to 3-1.

Freshman Evan Dietz answered with a goal two minutes later, extending the Rams' lead to 4-1.

Swezey continued to carry Navy when he scored his third goal of the weekend and second of the game with just 26 seconds left in the second period.

Heading into the third period up 4-2, the Rams were looking for a little insurance to ease the win. Fifteen seconds into the period, Astarita provided it, scoring an unassisted goal to put Navy out of reach of a comeback at 5-2. Senior goalie Ray Martin continued his success throughout the rest of the period, blanking the Midshipmen the rest of the way en route to a 40-save performance in the 5-2 victory.

The Rams continue competition this weekend when they host Washington and Jefferson University in games tonight and tomorrow night.

"Washington and Jefferson University is always tough," Astarita said. "When we played them last year, they kept the games very tight.