Ice hockey run over on the road by Ramapo

Muhlenberg’s ice hockey team began play this past Sunday, traveling to New York to take on the Ramapo College Roadrunners in the season opener for both teams. After losing two seniors at the conclusion of last year, the Mules added three strong players to this year’s roster: Anthony DiPalma and Noah Dorfman on offense, and Ryan Stewart on defense.

Ramapo started off strong at home, scoring the opening goal of the game less than two minutes in. Keith Doherety found the back of the net at 18:16. It didn’t get much better for the Mules, with the Roadrunners scoring one more before the end of the period – Dan Demarco netted a goal at 12:42 – and effectively shutting down a struggling Muhlenberg team.

At 13:20 in the second period, Ramapo’s DJ Campbell scored to give the Roadrunners a solid 3-0 start, but it didn’t last for long.

Muhlenberg came out strong in the second and scored three goals in almost ten minutes to erase that lead. Liam Bonner ‘18 scored at 10:47 after persistent struggling for the puck in front of the net made it past the goalie. Play remained relatively uneventful in terms of goals until 1:23 when Sam Amon ‘19 found the back of the net. Less than a minute later, with 31 seconds left, Noah Dorfman ‘20 scored his first college goal to tie with Ramapo.

The final point of the game came at 17:48 from Ramapo’s Demarco, sealing the win for the Roadrunners as the clock ran down without any threat of another goal.

In a game filled with hard hits and arguably dirty play, there were four penalties called on the Muhlenberg bench. Pat Moran ‘17 was called for slashing, Ryan Stewart ‘20 for roughing, Henry Mette ‘19 for a check from behind, and Tyler Tavormina ‘18 for a high stick – all in the first period. In terms of the dirty play, two Muhlenberg players had to be helped off the ice and one freshman, Anthony DiPalma, already sustained a concussion. On a personal note, it was difficult for Muhlenberg fans to watch as the referees took close to thirty seconds to blow the play dead on both occasions; when a Ramapo player showed no signs of getting up, the play was blown dead immediately.

Goaltender Bryan MacAllister ‘17 faced 75 shots on goal, stopping 71 of them. The Mules let off 32 shots on Ramapo’s goal. Their next game is Oct. 14, against Ramapo.

Photo courtesy of Alyssa Hertel