WPU Hockey Takes Over Top Spot in Rankings

In front of the largest crowd in the history of William Paterson University hockey, the Pioneers defeated the Siena College Saints 6-4 on Nov. 22 to take over the top spot in the polls.

Playing in the Northeast Region of Division II in the American Collegiate Hockey Association, this marks the first time the team has been ranked number one in the program's 35-year history. On a night where former WPU goal tender, Joey Vincent was honored, having his number 31 retired, the Pioneers came out of the locker room wearing the orange uniforms he helped create, which inspired the whole team.

The game pitted the then number one ranked Siena against then number two ranked WPU. The Pioneers once again struck first, as Ryan Lacorte scored off a rebound four minutes into the first period. Rob Prezioso followed suit, as he netted his third goal of the season just over a minute later. In the eighth minute of play, Siena scored their first goal of the night while on a two-man advantage. Siena applied pressure through the majority of the first, keeping WPU goalie Kyle Finnerty very busy. Finnerty made 11 saves on 12 chances.

Heading into the second period the score stood at 2-1 in favor of WPU. From there, the game took on a more physical tone, with 11 penalties called in the second, the most of any period. In the span of three minutes, four penalties were called. Siena took advantage of the penalties and scored a power play goal, knotting the score up at two apiece. The Pioneers responded with a power play goal of their own a few minutes later, coming at the hands of Shaun McTigue. McTigue displayed amazing stick handling skills while carving through the Siena defense, going end to end to fire a cannon of a shot that was knocked down by Siena goalie Adam Brown. McTigue stayed with the play and put in his own rebound, making the score 3-2 in favor of WPU.

"I love playing on the power play," said McTigue. "Everything opened up, I maneuvered around the defenders to get the puck on net, then put in the rebound."

After scoring another power play goal off the stick of Anthony Zipfel, the Pioneers were about to head into the locker room with a two goal lead, but Siena had different plans. In the final minute of play in the second period, Siena winger Dave Delsonno found the back of the net.

The score remained 4-3 in favor of WPU for much of the third period until John Gomez scored nine minutes in. Now down by two goals, Siena needed to respond quickly in order to stay in the game, and respond quickly they did, scoring just over a minute later. Pulled back to within a goal, Siena found new life as they battled hard to tie the game, but nearly threw it all away when they gave up a penalty shot. Prezioso got the nod and skated out to center ice to take the shot. Prezioso was denied as Siena goalie Adam Brown made the save. In a desperation move, Siena pulled their goalie in the final minute of regulation to give themselves an extra skater, but the plan backfired as Matt Gillen scored an empty net goal to seal the victory.

With his goal in this game, Gomez has a four game scoring streak, and 15 points in his last eight games. Finnerty, who started his fourth consecutive game between the pipes, made 20 saves on the night, the most on the season to this point.

"It was a fun game to play in," said Finnerty. "It's nice to celebrate now but this is only a temporary high."

Co-head coach Ken Scarpa was proud of his team's accomplishments after winning one of the biggest games in the hockey program's history.

"[The win] means a lot," said Scarpa after he addressed the team following the game. "This is a culmination of all the hard work the team has put in. This is only a short term goal, we have a long way to go. Our goal is to get to the league championship game at the end of the season to represent William Paterson."

A few days after defeating the then number one ranked team in their region, WPU officially moved up to the number one ranking in the Northeast Region in Division II of the ACHA. This is a big achievement for not only the team, but the program as a whole.

Mike Duffy can be reached at DuffyM1@student.wpunj.edu