Broncs tie Princeton on home ice to end four-game losing streak

By Kristie Kahl

It took quite a bit of time, but Rider’s ice hockey club, seemingly on the verge of something enormous earlier in the season, has finally put an end to its four-game losing streak.

Well, sort of.

The Broncs showed signs of life on Wednesday, tying the visiting Princeton Tigers, 4-4. It was the first time in more than a week that Rider was able to put something other than a loss up on the board.

“We need to get back to the basics, buckle down and just play hockey,” said freshman defenseman Matt Metzger. “We need to get organized and just see what we can do. We have to do the small things right and go from there.”

Rider (7-6-2) capitalized on the Tigers’ lack of execution on line changes early on. The team scored the first goal of the game on a power play, establishing much-needed momentum heading into intermission.

The second period, meanwhile, showed a fluctuation in dominance as Princeton and Rider exchanged goals repeatedly. Deadlocked at 3-3 heading the final period, Rider seemingly came out with a newfound sense of urgency. Nonetheless, it was short-lived. When Rider scored to climb back into the lead, Princeton retaliated shortly after, evening the scoreboard yet again by the conclusion of the third period.

The offensive firepower demonstrated by both teams during regulation was nonexistent in the five-minute overtime session. Neither team was able to score as the game ended in a draw.

Rider – which, according to an article published in the Oct. 27 issue of The Rider News, started the season sensationally at 5-2-1 – is just 2-4-1 in their last seven games.

“It’s disappointing,” said Metzger. “We have a young team with a lot of young talent. We didn’t play our game [in the previous weekend] and it showed. Now we have to rebound back and buckle down. It’s only November, and we still have until February for the playoffs, but we don’t want to fall in the hole too early.”

According to MACHA-hockey.org, the University of Maryland, Baltimore-County (UMBC) is presently positioned seventh in the ACHA (American Collegiate Hockey Association) Southeast rankings whereas Rider, who lost 8-3 to the Retrievers last weekend, is ranked 11th. An uninspiring 7-4 loss to Loyola last Saturday made matters worse.

“Once again, it’s disappointing,” said Metzger. “UMBC outplayed us. They played harder, were more physical and they worked harder. They did everything that we did, but better.”

Besides adding more notches to their belt of wins, the team hopes to make the playoffs and qualify for Regionals, though they publicly acknowledge that four losses and a tie in a five-game stretch simply won’t cut it. Only the top 10 teams are able to compete in the ACHA Southeast Regionals.

“[Losing steaks] happen sometimes, especially since we were on the road,” Washer said. “We have three games this weekend, though, so hopefully we’ll win those.”

Rider will continue its upward climb away from home today against Penn. They play again on Saturday in a home contest against interstate rival Seton Hall.