The University of Rhode Island men’s club hockey team split a pair of matches against Villanova University this weekend in its home opening series at Boss Ice Arena.
In Friday’s match, Villanova got the scoring going early with a goal from fourth-year forward Christiano Rapattoni to put the Wildcats up 1-0.
Later on in the second period, URI second-year forward Aidan Darlington took advantage of a costly penalty by Villanova and tied the score at 1-1.
Villanova did not let Rhode Island get momentum for too long, as it took the lead right back and broke the tie in the third period on a goal from first-year defenseman Austin Gannon to put the Wildcats back in the driver’s seat up 2-1. Rhode Island pulled its goalie late in the third to try to give itself a chance, but Villanova was able to put the finishing touches on Friday’s contest when first-year Dylan Anderson iced the game with an empty-net goal, giving the Wildcats a 3-1 victory.
In Saturday’s matchup, Rhode Island was looking for a split while Villanova was aiming for the sweep. This game saw defense play a key role, as both teams were deadlocked at zero through two periods.
The game remained tight heading into the third period, with the Wildcats just barely outshooting the Rams 21-18 through the first two periods. It took a while, but URI was able to break through in this defensive battle when second-year Owen Hall found the back of the net for the first goal of the game just two minutes into the third period.
Villanova continued to play aggressively with URI. Villanova generated a lot of chances with 26 shots on goal, but first-year goalie James Hunt continued to be a brick wall in net for the Rams, not letting any of the Wildcats’ shots past him. Hunt’s performance helped URI add to its lead later in the period when fourth-year captain Shane Mulhern added a second goal to give the Rams some breathing room on the scoreboard, up 2-0.
URI continued to outplay Villanova in its second contest as the Wildcats pulled their goalie with the game winding down, and the Rams put one more in the back of the net on an empty-net goal from second-year Cam Cyr to secure a much-needed 3-0 shutout victory for Rhode Island to end the series.
“Goaltending was outstanding,” Augustine said. “It was really a battle of goaltenders all weekend.”
Augustine also talked about what it is like coaching such a young team and seeing them develop.
“We have like 12 freshmen and nine sophomores,” Augustine said. “So a lot of these guys are still in the learning process and will look to continue to develop moving forward.”
Rhode Island will hit the road this weekend for a series on the road against Towson University on Friday and Saturday, with both games starting at 8 p.m.
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