The University of Pennsylvania Quakers were able to split the weekend, but advanced to 2-0 in the Colonials States Conference (CSCHC).
The Quakers hosted the Rider University Broncs on Friday night. Coming off of a 8-9 OT loss to Columbia, Penn was looking for a win.
Just four minutes into the game, the Broncs drew a boarding call sending them to the power play for five minutes. The visitors were able to capitalize on the opportunity with Ryan Kenna scoring his 1st of the night. The Broncs closed out the period with two additional even strength goals taking an early 3-0 lead.
Despite the Quakers troubles in the first period they regrouped in between periods and came out hard in the second. There was no doubt who controlled the pace during the second period. Taking it to the Broncs the Quakers controlled the puck in the offensive zone for much of the period with an effective fore check. That work paid off with a Jacob Qian goal halfway through the period with a pass from Chris Bugliosi getting the Quakers on the board. Even with all that pressure the Broncs managed to take advantage of one of the few score opportunities at the end of the period to keep the difference at three.
The Quakers once again came out swinging in the 3rd. Senior Axel D’Amelio scored the Quakers second goal of the evening less than 15 seconds into the period giving the team a much needed boost. The Broncs once again were given another power play opportunity for which they capitalized on once again bringing the deficit to three. Rider finished the evening 2-2 on the power play, a major deciding factor in the game. Both teams would trade goals in the 3rd with another Quaker goal from Qian resulting in a 6-3 loss.
Despite the loss Coach Artosky was very pleased with the way the team played. “Rider is one of the best teams we will play all season and we controlled the pace of play for more than half of the game. If we can take that effort and keep building this team will be a force to be reckoned with.”
Another very good outing from Sophomore goaltender Reagan O’Neil who made some critical saves for the Quakers, facing close to 60 shots over 60 minutes.
On Saturday, Penn headed down to Atlantic City, NJ to meet Colonials States opponent Stockton University. Stockton, a team which the Quakers eliminated from the playoffs last season, was going to give the team their best effort for sure. Getting the start in between the pipes for the Quakers for his first start of the season was Junior Jack Averill.
The Quakers struck first with a power-play goal launched by Chris Buglosi, with assists earned by Mark Tarazi and Christian Ford at the 6:28 mark in the period. In what has become a common theme with the Osprey the game was hard fought and chippy which led to penalties on both sides including two which the Quakers killed in the 1st.
The second period turned into a defensive struggle where both teams managed to keep each other off the scoresheet until the five minute mark where AJ Moshyedi was able to put one past Stockton goaltender Matt Corella advancing their lead to 2-0. The two goal lead was short lived as Stockton answered the call, scoring just one minute later to close the period with a score of 2-1.
Stockton was able to even the score with a power-play goal scored seven minutes into the final period. The Quakers showed their fight and found the back of the net with a little less than 5 minutes to go, with a goal off the stick of Freshman Ryan Wempen to take the lead back and win the game with a score of 3-2. Jack Averill earned his first win of the season with an excellent performance earning player of the game for the Quakers.
The Quakers are off next week with a short fall break but will be back at it again against cross town rivals Drexel University in what has been dubbed the “Scuffle on the Schuylkill” on October 12th. The game will be held in the Class of 1923 Arena, but the Quakers will be considered the visitors. Come out and support the team in what will be another great CSCHC match up! Go Quakers!