Michigan Flexes Muscle Out East

 

This past weekend, the UM Roller Hockey club piled into vans and made the trip to Feasterville, PA to compete in the East Coast Roller Hockey Association All-Star weekend.  Nearly every club member successfully endured the 9½ hour trip, while one van proved their endurance by accidentally driving 1½ hours the wrong direction on I-76, proving that they can withstand even a 12 hour car ride.

 

The B team kicked off the weekend in style, overcoming an early 3-0 deficit against Towson to storm back and win 9-5.  Later in the day, the team faced off against #15 SUNY Buffalo, and lost a 5-4 heartbreaker.  Sitting at 1-1 on the day, the team regrouped quickly and carried out their frustrations on #13 SUNY Binghamton by crushing them 9-4.  The B team then closed out the weekend by defeating Temple 9-6, a win which put them at 3-1 on the weekend and 10-5-1 for the season.

 

The A team went into the hopeful that it could compete with the East's finest missing key players, including their top goal scorer, and having to fill spots with B players.  Their fears became reality in the first game , as they squandered a 3-2 lead midway through the second period en route to suffering a disappointing 11-5 loss to a relentless #6 Towson.  A third period breakdown is what allowed Towson to take control of the game, and the team knew it could not let one bad period set the tone for the weekend.  The team faced #10 SUNY Buffalo next, and used their own third period scoring surge to come away with a 3-2 victory.  That evening, the A team relied on stout defense and opportunistic goals to defeat SUNY Binghamton by a score of 4-0.  The team then ended their weekend emphatically by putting up a baker's dozen on Northeastern, winning 13-0 and posting back-to-back shutouts.  The A team now sits at 13-4-3 on the season, with a clear path to a nationals birth ahead of them.