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Topsy-turvy weekend for SCSU
 Media Credit: Blair Schlichte SCSU junior forward Matt Hendricks gets pulled down by RPI�s Ben Barr during their game Friday at the National Hockey Center. The Huskies went on to win the game 3-0, but lost 1-3 Saturday.
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The injury bug has hit the SCSU hockey team hard in the first couple of weeks of the 2002-03 season.
Coupled with that, the Huskies came into the weekend series against the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Engineers with a dismal three-for-19 mark on power play opportunities. But little did the Huskies know that this statistic would get a little boost Friday night, and their troubles wouldn't even be noticed as they notched a 3-0 win at the National Hockey Center.
The Huskies had their 29th consecutive regular season sellout, and the 6,057 fans in attendance watched senior goaltender Jake Moreland stop 17 shots for his third career shutout. They also saw senior forward Joe Motzko play his way into all three Husky goals.
SCSU began Friday's game without senior captain Jon Cullen (shoulder) and assistant captains senior forward Ryan Malone (hip) and junior defenseman Jeff Finger (hand, foot).
Motzko got things started for the Huskies late in the first period as he one-timed a Jonathan Lehun pass just inside the right post. The power play goal gave Motzko his team-leading eighth point of the year. He was assisted on the play by sophomore forward Mike Doyle.
Early in the second period Motzko set up junior Matt Hendricks, who batted in a rebound off a slap shot by Lehun to put the Huskies up 2-0. Lehun also assisted on the power play goal.
The Huskies added a third power play goal late in the third period as first-year defenseman Tim Conboy scored his first collegiate goal on a nice wrist shot in front of the net. He was assisted by Motzko and Doyle.
After the game, SCSU head coach Craig Dahl felt good about his team's performance, especially their performance on the power play, going three-for-six on the night.
"It was a very good game by our young people and a good job by our defenseman," Dahl said. "We had a patchwork power play, so getting those three power play goals helped."
Dahl went on to say that he felt his younger players were starting to understand the system better, therefore helping RPI cough up the puck.
The only junior forward to skate in the game for the Huskies was Hendricks, who suffered a broken wrist last weekend. With three captains out and more than enough first year players on the ice at the same time, he needed to step up and help the team.
"I was talking to Cullen before the game and he said, 'You don't have any captains out there, you've got three seniors, and only three juniors.' " Hendricks said. "I felt like I had to step up my leadership on the ice, on the bench and in the locker room. I tried to take what Cullen has given me the last two years and pass it on."
With injuries abounding, the Huskies had to dress nine first-year players. Conboy, who tallied the second point of his career, said as a first-year player he felt no pressure at all.
"To be totally honest, I don't know if anyone (of the first-year players) feels any pressure," he said. "We've been skating together for a while now and I think everyone showed they feel comfortable with each other. Everyone knows that, since we have so many young guys, we have to work that much harder. It helps a ton to get off to a good start. With so many freshmen playing, it's going to give us experience that a lot of other teams' freshmen aren't going to have later in the year."
With the third shutout of his career, Moreland also seemed to be happy with the play of his young defenseman.
"The defense played awesome, the guys that we needed to step up, the sophomores and juniors, all played really well." Moreland said. "Conboy played solid and Greg Tam played well, too."
The two teams met again Saturday night at the NHC. This time around things didn't go as well. A power play team that seemed so dominant the night before resorted back to their old ways as they went zero-for-eight on power play opportunities.
Already hurting with injuries, the Huskies gained back Finger, but lost another player 26 seconds into the game. Most of the 6,012 fans on hand hadn't even settled into their seats before Tam went crashing into the boards in the right corner of the SCSU zone. Tam was cross-checked by RPI's Carson Butterwick. The exact diagnosis for the injury has yet to be determined, but Dahl feared it may be a separated shoulder.
The Engineers came out firing on all cylinders, looking like a completely different team. But it was Lehun that put the Huskies on the board first with a shot from Hendricks that was caught in traffic and bounced in front of him to stuff it in and put SCSU up 1-0 in the first. The rest of the first period went scoreless as RPI seemed to pick up their intensity. In the second period, things got off to a quick start as RPI's Ben Barr pumped one 1:27 into the period. Barr was assisted by Blake Pickett and Vic Pereira.
Nine minutes later, the Engineers added a second goal from Carson Butterwick. Brad Farynuk assisted on the power play score. The second period ended with RPI up 2-1.
The third period began and more of the scoring chances the Huskies had didn't fall. RPI added a third goal on the night as Keith McWilliams put the visiting Engineers up 3-1. SCSU pulled first-year starter Jason Montgomery, but it worked to no avail as the Huskies skated to a 3-1 loss.
The biggest story of the night didn't come from the Husky ranks, but rather from RPI's Nathan Marsters. The Engineer goalie stopped 40 of the 41 shots he faced on the night.
"I've been struggling, so it felt good to get a good one under my belt," Marsters said. "There have been a couple of goals I should've stopped this year, like the one tonight. But you can't worry about stats. It's a big win for our team. That's what matters most. Whichever (goalie) is in there getting W's, that's all that matters."
Dahl felt his team's performance was poor, stating that their second period was lackluster. However, he gave credit to Marsters.
"Marsters played really good. He didn't give up anything cheap and we had some good chances. What are you going to do?" Dahl said.
With the split, the Huskies drop to 3-2-1 on the season. SCSU takes on the University of North Dakota next weekend. Game times are scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
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