RSC's trip to ACHA D3 National Tournament
The boys from Richard Stockton got off to a rough start at ACHA D3 Nationals, dropping a 9-0 decision to Florida Gulf Coast University. Whether it was the awe at being there for the first time, the overall speed of FGCU or something else, they were dominated on the ice and on the scoreboard. The good part to the story is that the boys played their hearts out in the next 2, losing a 2-1 decision to Colorado State in which they outplayed the Rams from about halfway through the game, and then dropping a 5-3 decision (including an empty netter) to the eventual National champs, Adrian College of Michigan.
Lots of lessons learned from this first trip. Among them are that everyone comes to play every shift, the best teams are 4 lines deep, and speed of the game is so much faster (including way less stoppages in play). A win would have been nice, but the team must have done a little something right in the last 2, recovering to be ranked #14 nationally when the tournament was over and done with.
Congrats to the seniors – Lou Siderio ©, Kevin Heumann (A), Alex McCabe (A) and Sean Driscoll – you’ve been an inspiration to those that will follow. Thanks to head coach Ian Walterson and his assistants Jay Turcotte and Chris Costa – better things are coming your way.
