The Ice Knights went 17-7-4 this past season. Coach Gojdycz received his 100th collegiate win against Drexel University on February 11, 2012 and this season Matt McDonald, a sophomore, received his 101st point in a Rutgers sweater on the same night.

Jason Adams was elected to the 2012 ACHA All-Star Game (his 3rd honor) in addition to breaking the All-Time Assist Record (Ed Simonson Award) with his 107th career assist (and still counting). This award was held by current head coach Andy Gojdycz.  

The Ice Knights wish to thank all fans and alumni on making this season a rememberable one. Stay tuned to next season as the schedule will be released…shortly.

After a 2-1 shoot-out loss against Syracuse in the semi-finals, a game in which the lone goal for the Knights was scored by NECHL All-Tourney Team recipient John Beatrice, assisted by Matt Ruthberg and Matt McDonald, the team was finished for the weekend.  But not for the season.  “It was absolutely devastating,” said Jackson Udelsman, a 2nd team NECHL All-Star recipient, who gave the credit for his award to his teammates and coaches.  “Each and every one of my four years, I’ve watched Coach hand that trophy to someone else, even though we had been regular season champs. Going in, I truly believed this was going to be the year we’d finally bring it home, but it didn’t happen that way.  We just need to focus on Nationals right now.”  Udelsman feels that West Virginia will be a tough test, but that the Knights have the guys in the locker room to get it done. “We’ve never won a game at Nationals and it would be really special to end my career on a high note.”

Coach Andy Gojdycz, who received the NECHL Coach of the Year Honors, feeling “honored” and that it is “ nice to know that you have peers that respect your work and you as a coach,” believes that the team has “grown so much in the 12 months as a unit.  They understand what winning is and how they need to play.  Sometimes however, you have pitfalls along the way.  They play emotional when the time arises to win big games such as Stony Brook and UCO and nail biters like taking UDel to a shootout.”  Although Coach Gojdycz feels that the loss to Syracuse, a team the Knights had beaten twice earlier in the season, was a “difficult to describe emotional down-spiral,” he believes that West Virginia will be their biggest test yet. “We are relying on all team members next weekend.  The roll-players need to come out and do their job as do the point-makers.  Brandon and the “D” need to be our best players, though.  If we win our zone, we’ll win the game.”

The 2011-12 NECHL Player of The Year recipient is the Ice Knight’s Matt McDonald.  The humble McDonald feels good about winning the award. “I have to thank my teammates because I couldn’t have won this award without them, especially my line mates Jason and Beattie.”  McDonald’s most memorable moment of the season was beating Rhode Island, which he says set tone for the teams’ success. “Our upcoming game against West Virginia should be a good one against a team who is ranked close to us.  We want to end the season on a high note, so beating West Virginia is a must for our team.”

Jason Adams, a third time recipient of the NECHL 1^st team All-Star honors, feels great about the upcoming game against WVU. “We’ve had some good practices since our playoff let down, our team is still set on making Rutgers Ice Knight History with our first win in the ACHA Division 1 National Tournament, and guys are hungry still, which is great to see since in the past seasons we have had mental and physical meltdowns.”  Adams, who feels honored by being a third time recipient of this award, says that it is a testament to his teammates. “This year, I have great line mates and chemistry with John and Matt, so it was really easy to have a good offensive year.  Our defense has done a great job this year with winning defensive battles and moving the puck up to the forwards, which has made all of our jobs easier.  Our goaltending has been terrific too, and with Brandon (De Libero) being recognized as the best goalie in our conference, and with his goals against average next to nothing, he has been able to put the pressure on the opposing teams which helps our offense capitalize.”  Adams, who broke the all time assist record this season, formally held by coach Gojdycz, will remember the great things this season, such as Coach recording his 100^th win, McDonald’s 100^th point, the big wins over ranked opponents, and fondly remembering the honoring of Josh’s memory. “We have such great seniors and such a fantastic group of guys.  This year has been one of the best seasons I have ever been a part of.  Not just the winning, which is great, but also the group of guys.  We have really been a family and brothers to each other.”

Matt McDonald (Medford, NJ / The Kent School) notched his 101st point in the Rutgers sweater while only in his second year on the Banks. He had two tallies (one short-handed) and added an assist in the win. Also, Rutgers finally won its first game at Class of ’23 since the late ‘90s while sweeping Drexel in two games this season. Finally, Coach G notched his 100th career win as Head Coach of the program. He becomes the first coach in Rutgers Hockey history to do so at the Division 1 level.

When asked about the moment, Matt McDonald stated: “It feels like a nice accomplishment reaching a hundred points but its not a personal achievement. I’ve played with great players the last 2 years that have played a big part in me reaching 100 points so I have to thank Gil (Schaffer-last’s years Team Captain),  Naki (Tim Nakajima graduated last season), Jason (Adams) and Beattie (John Beatrice). Jason Adams had this to say about his line-mate: “Tonight was also special because Mac recorded his hundredth career point and to do it in his sophomore year is special. He’s a great teammate and even a better person off the ice”.

When asked about the remainder of the season, Mac commented: “Since coming back from break the team has really come together and were playing some of our best hockey. We need to keep it going for playoffs and nationals to win our league and then shock a lot of people at nationals”.

Coach Gojdycz was up next when asked about  the win at Drexel: “The players made me feel like it was ‘my day’ today after the game”, stated Coach Gojdycz. “I am grateful to have such a charismatic and thoughtful group. They allow me to enjoy my job of coaching and they deserve good things this season. They have grown as a team, through thick and thin, for the past several seasons. From our captains, to the seniors and on down to the frosh, they have evolved into a team that can win at will…its just a matter of keeping them believing in themselves. If that is my hardest job, I will take that any day”.

Coach G started coaching in the second semester of the 2002 season on the Banks. His first game was a 6-4 loss to Drexel on January 18th of that year. “Weird how that played out but its true. That game started my journey as a collegiate coach”.

For the next 2 seasons, the club would go 4-54-5 with Coach G at the interim helm. “Those two seasons really put into perspective what coaching was all about. Having a team of brothers that went through a lot just to get through two seasons. It was those kids that started our success a couple of years later in the 2006 season”. During that time, Coach G thanks a couple of people that helped keep the program going. “Glenny Fredricks, Chris Perruso, Mike Stapleton and Mark DiGiovanni helped me throughout those years and I cannot thank them enough. They helped me in their spare time at different points during those years.”

After stepping away from the helm for two seasons, Coach G came back as head coach for the 2006-07 season with the help of current Assistant Coach Adriaan Klaassen. “Adriaan was instrumental in helping me on the bench and off the ice with his recruiting efforts and getting kids interested in the program”.

Since that 2006 season, Rutgers has gone 95-76-8 with 4 NECHL Regular Season Championships and 2 trips to the ACHA D1 National Tourney. Their 3rd straight trip has been locked up since their first semester this current season after clinching its 5th straight NECHL Regular Season Championship.

Jason Adams, current team captain, was asked about the day and more specifically about his coach. His thoughts: “It was great to get coach his hundredth career win. There is no coach in the ACHA, who does what he does for us or someone who does so much for one program. He has overcome so many obstacles to turn this program into a winner. There isn’t a better coach I have had in my life not only on the ice but what he means to me off the ice. He preaches work-ethic, character and discipline. With those three attributes he knows not only what will make us successful on the ice but also what will make us great students, sons to our parents and one day fathers. I enjoyed giving him the hard hat and game puck and I only hope we can deliver him a championship or two this year.”

Rutgers is headed to Syracuse University this weekend for the NECHL Championship Weekend. Their opponent is still unknown.

With two goals, one in each game, playing the National Anthem on his electric guitar along with saxophonist Ralph Bowen, and celebrating Senior Day, Nick “Slash” Kashmanian felt that the entire team showed a lot of heart and character in both games over the weekend.  “Obviously, to come as close as we did on Friday, it burns and makes you want to succeed and do better.” Joe Kubrak, assisted by Brett Siegrist and Jay Ewan, and Kashamaian, assisted by Kevin Mathers and Jason Adams, scored the two goals in the 4-2 loss against the 14^th ranked Central Oklahoma Bronchos Friday night at the Ponds.  “The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory, and we battled hard in both games.”  And the battle paid off in the second contest, with a “huge” win for the program.

Saturday’s game had a bittersweet undertone.  All of the fans in attendance witnessed the retirement of jersey #29, the number worn by Josh Esformes.  “Josh was one of the greatest teammates anyone could ask for,” says Kashmanian.  “He always treated everyone, be it seniors or freshman, with the same amount of respect.  I definitely looked up to him in that regard.  He was a one-of-a-kind talent, and a one-of-a-kind character. He was just one-of-a-kind.  I know he helped us with that win. I’m glad we could honor his family and memory with a W.”

Saturday was also a celebration of Kasmanian, Kubrak, and all of the present seniors, including Jackson Udelsman, who scored the first goal of the game, a power play goal, as well as having an assist in the contest, Assisitant Captain TJ Fiorillo, and team president Joe Ippolito.  The ceremony, which was made extra special due to the efforts of Karen Santillo Fiorillo, was heartwarming.  Hence the many boxes of tissues.

The contest on Saturday, which is said by many to be one the biggest wins in Rutgers ice hockey history, had the Knights heading into the lockeroom after the first period up 1-0, after a goal by Udelsman, assisted by Jason Adams and Matt McDonald. Adams and McDonald are national leaders in assists and goal scoring, respectively, in the ACHA Division 1.  Central Oklahoma tied the game up in the second, 1-1. But just 41 seconds later, Kevin Mathers, assisted by Udelsman and Matt Ruthberg, put the 20^th ranked Knights back up by one, heading into the third.  Halfway through the final period, Oklahoma tied the game up, again, and at the end of regulation, with the score tied 2-2, the Knights were headed into overtime for the second time in a one-week span.

“I really don’t remember much about the goal because the excitement level was so great,” says Kashmanian about his game winner, assisted by Assistant Captain Will Blinder and Adams.   Based on the exuberance that was unleashed by everyone in attendance immediately after the puck hit the back of the Broncho’s net, this is one phenomenal goal that will always be remembered by all of those who witnessed it.  How sweet the sound of “Chelsea Dagger.”  Says a humble Kashmanian, “Jason made a great play carrying the puck to the middle of the ice on a 2 on 2.  I just wanted to drive the net hard to open some space for him, and somehow the puck landed on my stick, and I was fortunate enough to put the puck in the net. It’s one of the biggest goals I’ve scored in my life for sure.”

Before heading to the NECHL playoffs in two weeks, the Knights will play Drexel, a team they beat 7-1 a couple of weeks ago, at the “class of 23” rink in Philadelphia.  According to “Slash” Kashmanian, the team is looking very good at this point of the season. “I think everything is really starting to come together and all of the ingredients of a successful team are in place, starting with incredible goaltending all the way up through timely goal scoring. I hope we can ride this success out and make the remnants of my hockey career as exciting as possible.”

-Lisa Zola-DeLibero

This past Sunday, the Ice Knights, ranked 21^st in the ACHA Division 1 recent rankings, defeated the 16^th ranked Stony Brook Seawolves at the Rinx, 2-1.  The impressive game, which ended in a win for Rutgers, had additional reasons for celebration.  With the Knights being down 1-0 after the first period, freshman Brett Siegrist scored his first goal, unassisted, of the season, 7:02 into the second period to tie the game. “It felt  good to finally get my first goal,” said Siegrist.  “It took a while, but it happened to come in a big win. Armen (Gapikia) gave me a nice drop pass in the corner, and I took it to the side of the net. I saw Joe (Kubrak) out in front and went to pass to him, but the puck just happened to bounce off the defenseman’s stick, and went in.”  According to Siegrist, the team has “conquered many obstacles” and they have done things that prior teams were unable to do.  Things like beating Stony Brook.  “As far as the rest of the season, we have many challenges that await us, and I hope we can conquer them as well.”

In the third period and overtime, the goaltenders for each team stood tall, stopping everything that was slapped and sniped at them, disallowing any change in the score.  The Knights were outshot 40-26, and netminder Brandon De Libero, with the game now heading into a shootout, needed to shutdown Stony Brook for the victory, and the important two points.

The Seawolves scored first in the shootout.  But Matt McDonald, one of the ACHA’s leading goal scorers, with 28 goals in 22 games, netted one for the Knights.  The Seawolves came up empty on the next two attempts, leaving the opportunity for the Knight’s next shooter to be the hero.

It is a tradition to receive gifts on your birthday.  But John Beatrice, who was celebrating his special day the 29^th of January, actually gave the team a gift, scoring the winning goal. “I was a little nervous going into the shootout because we’ve struggled in that category this year,” said Beatrice. “When I went for my shot, I knew exactly what move I was going to try, and just hoped my change in speed would put the goalie in an awkward position. (I used the ‘Patrick Kane’ shootout move.)  It was pretty cool that I was able to score on my birthday, and even better that we won.” Beatrice felt that Stony Brook was a great test for the team. “Both goalies played great, and it’s amazing that it stayed 1-1 with all of the chances each team got.”

With the season going well so far, other than a couple of setbacks, Beatrice feels that everything is coming together nicely and that the Knights are having fun playing these top teams. “Hopefully we will have a good showing the next two weekends before we attack our main goals of the season in the playoffs and national tournaments.”

Winning the NECHL Tournament in two weeks, in Syracuse, would be a great way to head into Nationals.  It would also be a perfect birthday gift for Beattie!

Rutgers came back to New Jersey with another set of wins for their record.  Once again the Scarlet Knights demonstrated excellent penalty killing against Syracuse.  Nick Kashmanian said, “I think playing on the PK just comes naturally to a lot of the team. It’s not so much chemistry as it is everyone buying into the defensive responsibilities that come with penalty killing”.  The “one” line played outstanding both nights along with the other lines.  John Beatrice had one goal and 4 assists on Friday and 2 goals and 1 assist on Saturday.  “My line played really well at the right times this weekend, Beatrice said, it was important that we clicked because Syracuse is a good team and it was a big weekend with our league play coming to a close”.

Captain Jason Adams said, “It is always nice to beat a team like Syracuse. They are a very strong team and come out hard and continue to play hard from the first whistle to the last. It was a very satisfying weekend because we owed that team something after how badly they beat us in the playoff championship last year”.

When asked how it feels to beat Syracuse two nights in a row on their own ice, Coach Andy Gojdycz responded, “It feels great. We gained two huge wins this past weekend against an in-conference opponent. The team rose to the occasion and got the job done”.

The Scarlet Knights have been on a roll lately, sweeping the last 4 weekends, not including this last sweep against Syracuse.  Nick Kashmanian said, “Anytime you can put together two big wins like that, it’s obviously a confidence boost. I don’t think we’re getting overconfident. We won’t let this win streak get to our head, because I don’t think losing is an option at this point. Our job is to sweep next weekend [against Cornell] and then take it to Penn State”.

The Scarlet Knights are enjoying their wins, but know they cannot get over confident in their game.  Jason Adams said, “I think the team is reacting positive to the wins but not getting too over confident, we are playing with confidence which allows us to come back and win if we are down or if things are not going our way. We have the confidence to realize we can win and overcome any adversity because we have only had two losses in regulation this year. We are doing a very good job of not riding the highs too high or the lows to low and have been playing with a steady business like approach compared to years past”.  Jason credits the coaches and team members for keeping everyone’s “emotions in check”.

With games against the great teams of Cornell and Penn State in the near future along with the Scarlet Knights’ hopes of nationals and a national ranking on the line, the team plans to stick to what’s been working in practices and games.  They plan to stick to their system.  These coming games are huge for the Scarlet Knights.  Coach Gojdycz says, “We’re focusing on our system and what works well in it to keep it going. We need our system now more than ever”.

This coming weekend the Scarlet Knights will head to New York City for their match-up against Cornell.  “Hopefully we can achieve our goals this weekend and clinch first place,” John Beatrice said, “then we have #1 ranked, Penn State, so the next couple of games should really test us.  I think we are up for the challenge if we just play our game and stay focused”.  After the games against Cornell and then Penn State, there will be a break of games marking the end of the fall semester.  Beatrice said,  “I think because the team has such great chemistry that winter break won’t really be as a big of a factor as it has been the last couple years.  We should be able to carry the momentum and not lose a step as we push through the second half of the season next semester.” We hope they can keep their momentum going throughout the rest of this semester and have it carry over to next semester.  As Coach Gojdycz stated, “We all need mental breaks and this might be the best time to do it”.

Come out to support the Division 2 team this weekend as they host their “Stick It” to Prostate Cancer game this Saturday against Gettyburg.

After the game, Burgert said since it was his first night in net, he was a little nervous in the beginning.  Burgert was solid the rest of the night as he only let that early goal get by him.

Keeping the opponent off of the Power Play has been a struggle for the Ice Knights so far this season; however, their penalty kill has been outstanding.  Coach Andy G said, “our penalty killers are very tenacious with the puck.  Offensively they have great skill but they relate well in the defensive end on the penalty kill, where they have the mentality that they don’t want to lose the puck, they want to be on the puck at all times.  You need an aggressive penalty kill, especially with our philosophy.  We don’t want to sit back on the penalty kill.  We want to go after the opponent and make them make the first move.  We hit the nail right on the head this year with the personnel that we have and it’s worked out well.”

Saturday night was Rutgers last home game of the semester.  The Ice Knights came out ready to get another “W” at home before they spend the next few weekends away.  Something that the Ice Knights have been struggling with is executing and completing plays early in the first period.  Before the game Coach G said, “We have a great team; we know it.  We just have to make sure we play a full 60 minutes. We are just mediocre when we play under that 60”.

That was the difference in Saturday’s game.  The Ice Knights started the game off strong with 3 goals in the first period against St. Bonaventure.  Shota Okajima scored his first goal of his Rutgers career.  Rutgers remained consistent through the second period scoring another 3 goals. Brandon DeLibero had some great saves in net keeping St. Bonaventure scoreless.  Rutgers continued great play throughout the third period and were able to finish their plays.  The Ice Knights scored 4 goals in the third period and were able to stop St. Bonaventure all together.  The final score of the game was Rutgers: 10, St. Bonaventure: 0.  Brandon DeLibero was once again solid in net as he got his second shut out of the season thus far.

This is exactly what Rutgers needed to do in order to get ready for their tough competition in the next few weeks on the road against Syracuse, Cornell and Penn State.  “Next weekend is going to be a good battle against Syracuse, “ says Coach G.  “We still have a lot to prove especially since the last time we saw Syracuse, we lost in the Conference Finals”.

Despite these away series in the following weeks for the Division 1 team, Rutgers Ice Hockey Division 2 team will be hosting a “’Stick-it’ to Prostate Cancer” charity event as part of “Movember”.  The event will be held on November 19^th against Gettysburg with a game time of 8:30 p.m.

Rutgers Ice Hockey would like to thank everyone who donated to the canned food drive this weekend.  Your kind efforts will help people in need this holiday season.

Written by: Karra Logan

Before the game on Friday night, Joe Ippolito, a senior defenseman, was asked how the team planned to keep this streak going against Cortland.  He replied, “I think we just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing-working hard.  We have a great group of talent and it just comes back to focusing on what Coach tells us to do, sticking to our formations, and just playing hard out there.”

Prior to this weekend Cortland had only played three games so far this season (Rutgers had played 10).  “We hope to use it to our advantage that we’re a little bit more conditioned in the sense of playing more games,” Coach Andy Gojdycz said, “but I still think they’re going to come out and give us all they got in the first couple periods, if not the whole game.  So, to our advantage right now, we’ve been able to spend more time on specialty teams and five on five play, but I’m not counting them out.”

Rutgers dominated the ice both offensively and defensively on Friday night.  John Beatrice scored the first goal of the game on a fast break.  The Scarlet Knights were able to end the period with a score of 1-0.  Rutgers was on fire in the second period, scoring 7 goals.  Second period goals were scored by:  John Kurbak, Gordon Bowen, Matt Ruthberg, Teddy Udelsman, Nick “Slash” Kashmanian, and John Beatrice.  Teddy Udelsman scored again in the third period bringing the score to 9-0.  Rutgers penalty killing was on fire as they scored 3 goals short-handed.  The Scarlet Knights also capitalized on their Power Plays scoring 3 goals throughout the game, with the remaining 3 goals being scored with even strength.  Brandon DeLibero was unstoppable in the net as he got his first shut out of the season!

After the game, Brandon said that he did not see the puck differently this game but that the team just finished stronger, allowing him to get the shut out.  Brandon leads the country in most minutes played.  He said, “The team is playing well in front of me so it’s not as bad as it could be, playing every game, they’re doing a great job of keeping the shot count low.  I like playing every game”.

Coach Gojdycz commented on the play of the game.  “Our first period was dominant, but we couldn’t finish.  We controlled most of the plays far as puck possession, but we just didn’t capitalize on our chances and that’s one thing, going forward, we really have to hone in on.  When you get your chances, you have to finish them.  That’s pretty much what separates good teams from average or mediocre teams- that they finish their chances and in the first period we didn’t.”  The first period has been crucial for the Scarlet Knights throughout the season.

Before Saturday’s game, Nick Kashmanian said, “Our confidence level is very high.  I don’t think we’ve had a good first period in quite a few games.  It’s on everyone’s mind- not giving up many shots and playing well in front of Brandon.  The goals will come.”

Saturday’s game was a different story. SUNY Cortland came into Saturday’s game wanting the win and played very physical.  Rutgers battled back from being down 2-1 with under a minute to go in the 3^rd period. Rutgers tied up the game and won in OT off John Beatrice’s stick to extend the winning streak over Cortland. “Cortland came out and wanted to win, plain and simple. Our team, from staff to players, showed faults throughout the game. We did not stick to our system; we took advantage of ourselves and created too many power-play opportunities for Cortland”, commented Coach G. Clearly not happy with the game, he continued with “Our season rests on our ability to play 60 minutes of hockey within our system every game; that did not happen. Cortland, I hope, just taught us a huge lesson”.

On Friday night the Rutgers Hockey Team will be holding a canned food drive to help support a local food shelter as the cold winter months quickly approach us.  Next weekend is the last home series of the Fall semester as Rutgers hosts St. Bonaventure.  Come support your Scarlet Knights and please bring a can of food to help others in our community.

Written by: Karra Logan

This was a very exciting, powerful and rewarding weekend for Rutgers Hockey.  Not only did they beat Binghamton on both Friday and Saturday night, but they also held a charity event to support breast cancer, “Pink in the Rink” and had a player break a historic record.

Prior to this weekend, Jason Adams was three assists away from receiving the Ed Simonson Award for Most Career Assists.  When we asked him on Friday night before the game what was going through his mind he replied, “Nothing.  You can’t really worry about it.  Eventually it will break, whether it’s tonight, tomorrow, next weekend, maybe not until several games from now.  I’m just not going to worry about it.  Last weekend Coach yelled at me for not shooting when I should have instead of passing because I wanted to break it so bad but everything will fall into place, hopefully sooner, rather than later”.  Our very own Coach Andy Gojdycz is the one who held the record with 106 assists.  We asked Coach what it’s like to be coaching the player who is going to break his record and he said, “It’s great! Records are meant to be broken, especially if it’s a testament to where our program has gone in the past couple of years.  You are supposed to have players break records.  So, hats off to Jay.  It shows a sign of the type of players you have in the locker room and that the program is heading in the right direction so it’s great to see”.

On Friday night, The Scarlet Knights played most of the first half in the defensive zone with Brandon DeLibero standing tall in the net, leaving the first period scoreless.  The second period started with much excitement as both teams made lots of noise by banging their sticks against the boards and getting the crowd riled up!  About 3 minutes into the second period Rutgers took the lead with a goal by Matt Ruthberg.  Rutgers scored back-to-back as Freshman Ricky Hunt scored his first goal of his Rutgers career.  Matt McDonald scored an unassisted goal with about 13 minutes left in the second period bringing Rutgers lead to 3-0.  The second period ended with a score of Rutgers: 3, Binghamton: 1.  The Scarlet Knights started the third period of play with another set of back-to-back goals.  Freshman, Mike Trusca scored his first goal of his Rutgers career bringing the score to RU: 5, Binghamton:1.  John Beatrice scored the final goal of the game with 5 minutes left.  Rutgers took the win on Friday night with a final score of 6-1.

Saturday was a big day for Rutgers Hockey.  Not only were they looking for another win against Binghamton, but they were also having a charity event, “Pink in the Rink”, to raise money for breast cancer.  In the 2010-2011 season Rutgers Ice Hockey received the inaugural ACHA Community Service Award at the D-1 level for the effort they demonstrated reaching out in the community.  T.J. Fiorillo said, “That’s something we really pride ourselves on, community service and giving back and reaching out to everyone who supports us.  It’s been important for us to be involved in the community, to adopt a child, to work with march of dimes, the race for the cure, all of the types of things that we’ve done over the last year.  It’s always been important for us to do things like that and we want to continue that”.  The organization definitely gave back on Saturday with the success of this event.  There were pink decorations and balloons throughout the rink.  Fans came wearing pink and were given breast cancer ribbons to wear.  There were also tons of raffles and give-aways throughout the game.

The emotion was flowing as the team surprised the crowd in their new bright pink jerseys.  The opening ceremony started with a speech from Joe Ippolito and T.J. Fiorillo.  “All of us are impacted by breast cancer – our mothers, our sisters, our aunts, our co-workers, and our friends.  Tonight, we honor the courage of those who have battled, and are currently battling breast cancer.  Tonight, we stand up against this disease, united with our teammates, our friends, and our family.  With tremendous improvements in awareness, research, and treatments, the outlook is better than ever for those who are diagnosed.  However, we will not back down, not even for a second, as we relentlessly pursue a cancer-free world.  Join us tonight, as we celebrate hope.”  Kevin Mathers escorted his mom, who is a breast cancer survivor, to center ice to drop the puck and presented her with flowers.  Nick “Slash” Kashmanian played the National Anthem on electric guitar.  The excitement for this wonderful event was felt throughout the rink.

With an emotional and powerful opening ceremony, the game was underway.  Rutgers took the lead early with a goal from John Beatrice and an assist from Jason Adams.  With that goal, Jason Adams broke the all time assist record receiving the Ed Simonson Award for Most Career Assists with 107 assists.  The first period ended with Rutgers in the lead 1-0.  After Binghamton scored about half way through the second period, Goalie Brandon DeLibero stood tall in the net, making save after save, and refusing to let Binghamton take the lead.  The second period ended with a tie score of 1-1.  Rutgers dominated the third period but was unable to score until Matt Ruthberg scored on a Power Play with about 7 minutes left in the game.  After that, Matt McDonald immediately scored a goal bringing Rutgers’ lead to 3-1.  With just seconds left in the game Matt McDonald scored again.  Rutgers won the game with a final score of 4-1.

After the game, Joe Ippolito said, “It was really great to see everybody out here raising money for a great cause.  We warmed up with our grey jerseys and then we brought out the pink ones for game time, so it was a good shock to the crowd and it was fun.  It was really a special moment when Kevin’s mom came out on the ice and the little audio clip that we had in her honor.  It was a tough game, an emotional game, especially for me [Joe has fought through his own battle with cancer], but I was really happy that we got the win”.

The Rutgers Men’s Ice Hockey team should be proud of their wins this weekend, but more importantly the entire organization should be proud of the amazing event that helped raise money for the fight against breast cancer.  The event was not only a huge success, but very powerful and humbling for everyone involved.

Way to go Rutgers Hockey!

Written by: Karra Logan

Rutgers had two rookies playing in the rotation on Friday night.  Teddy Udelsman scored his first goal as a Scarlet Knight.  Brian Weiniger said, “ It feels great [to have played in his first game]. We’ve been working very hard in practices and it’s good to come out here and be able to play one and beat them as we did tonight”.

Matt McDonald is a dominant force on offense and played a great game on Friday night with not only 3 goals, but also excellent execution of plays.  This is his second hat trick at Rutgers (last year he had 4 goals versus Ithaca).  He said, “It always feel great to score, so scoring 3 in one game feels awesome and really gives me confidence going forward.”  To prepare for games Matt “likes to have a football catch to loosen up and eat a banana exactly an hour before the game with Kevin Mathers”.  Matt wanted to “thank all of the fans for their support this year and [his] housemates for being at all of the home games”.

After their first Friday night win of the season, the Scarlet Knights came with confidence on Saturday.  Rutgers scored at the end of the first period to take the lead with a goal by Matt McDonald.  Matt Ruthberg scored early in the second period.  The next Rutgers goal came from freshman Brian Weiniger, who played in his first game as an Ice Knight the night before.  He said, “I got a great pass from Kevin Mathers and then I just took it in, shot it, and it happened to go in”.

With ten minutes left in the second period, Matt Ruthberg scored his second game of the night, bringing the score to 4-0.  Captain, Jason Adams scored Rutgers’ fifth goal of the night.  Matt McDonald scored his second goal of the game bringing the score to RU: 6, Ithaca: 1 within ten minutes left of the game.  Jackson Udelsman scored Rutgers’ final goal of the night.  With four minutes left in the game, Ithaca scored a goal bringing the final score to Rutgers: 7, Ithaca: 2.  This is the first series sweep for the Scarlet Knights so far this season.

As the latter periods went on, it was getting very physical out on the ice.  Jackson Udelsman said, “I think we just have to keep our cool out there and realize that there’s a bigger goal.  We’re playing for a championship, to win the league”.

Matt McDonald was on fire this weekend, scoring 5 goals.  He said, “I’m just glad we got the win, and we didn’t play our best [Saturday] but a win’s a win no matter what, so I’m happy about that.  If I score, I score, but the biggest thing is that our team comes out on top”.

The Knights came out on top this weekend and hope to continue this momentum.  This weekend, Rutgers Ice Hockey plays Binghamton on Friday night at *9:00 PM and on Saturday, October 22^nd, the Knights will host “Pink in the Rink”, at 4:30 PM against Binghamton.  Proceeds from this event with go to Susan G. Komen For The Cure.  There will be lots of free giveaways and items to be purchased, such as Rutgers Hockey pinnies, football hats, “Think Pink” bracelets and much more!  Like all home games, Rutgers students get in free but anyone who donates will be given a gift as a thank you for their donation.  Everyone is encouraged to come to the game and support the Rutgers Hockey team and their efforts to fight Breast Cancer.  Wear pink to the game and GO RU!

Written by: Karra Logan