We were able to get our last few scrimmages in yesterday in what turned out to be a decent day up here in VT. The forecast was calling for rain but it managed to hold off and temps hovered in the the low 40’s for most of the day. With two scrimmages planned for the day against Hamilton and St. Mike’s, we decided to split the team up into two groups instead of trying to get everyone through in each scrimmage. First up was Hamilton and we decided to treat this one like a game. Going in we wanted to pick up where we left off last week with our physical play on defense, to do a great job of getting the ball off the ground and to improve our communication all over the field. I can safely say the guys answered the bell.

The day started off exactly the same as the St. Lawrence scrimmage last week with Erich Pfeffer getting us on the board with the first shot of the game from the same spot on the field. On the ensuing face off freshman George Curtis scooped up a ground ball on the wing and took it straight to the hoop to put us up 2-0.

Once again, everyone got in the mix on offense yesterday. David Hild led the way with four goals and an assist, now that he’s back at attack full time he’s making it look easy. Along with David, sophomore Mike Giordano (Ridgwood, NJ) has emerged as a playmaker in our offense. Mike finished with a goal and three assists and does a great job of manipulating the defense to open things up for his teammates. Junior Tim Cahill is also rounding into form this year in our new offense and finished with three yesterday as well. Tim has incredibly soft hands which allows him to handle anything inside and get his shot off in traffic. If we can get him to be a little smarter off ball he could have a big year. Finally, sophomore Stew Kerr (Lake Forest, IL) continues to bring a physical presence to the attack unit and has a great deal of potential, he had a goal and an assist on the day.

Sophomore Erich Pfeffer (Glastonbury, CT) led the way in the midfield with two goals and two assists. He looks very comfortable in our offense and hopefully he’ll continue to be able to distribute the ball the way he did yesterday. Overall this group has the ability to put up a lot of goals this year but we’re not quite where we want to be just yet.

Defensively our guys played hard and did an excellent job of getting the ball off the turf and up the field. We had the same cast of characters out there yesterday while mixing in our older defensemen with the starting group. The one new face emerging this year is sophomore Billy Chapman (Brunswick, CT). We’ve been running Billy at LSM this year and he’s done a tremendous job of getting the ball off the ground. For a big kid, 6’4 – 200, Billy is able to come up with the ball in traffic and runs the field very well. Overall this group held Hamilton to 16 shots and one goal in the scrimmage. (Coach Brakeley and I both thought they had scored two goals but if they did, we didn’t get it on film)

Even though we weren’t tested much, Ryan Deane still came up with a few nice saves and made some plays out of the cage that you’d expect to see from a returning starter.

Once again we’re really not concerned about the score from a scrimmage as it doesn’t mean anything as we get into our regular season. We have no idea what kind of team Hamilton will be this year and we heard they had some team suspensions taking place yesterday which certainly didn’t help their cause. However, it’s nice to see our guys come out flying and score the first 10 goals of the scrimmage before finally giving one up in the 3rd quarter. Also, anytime you can put up 17 goals in any type of competitive situation it’s hopefully a good sign going forward.

We haven’t had a chance to review the film from the St. Mike’s scrimmage yet but we saw some good things out there as well. Our guys played hard and continued to do a great job of getting the ball off the ground. With our next four attackmen out there and an entirely new defensive unit we were able to play pretty even with St. Mike’s. The two guys who stood out offensively were sophomore Scott Redmond at attack (2g’s) and freshman Brian Ayers (2g’s) in the midfield. Both of those guys have looked good in practice lately and it’s nice to see them translate it into a game like situation.

Last but not least, senior Charles Ward has been outstanding in the goal this preseason. He’d be the starting goalie at almost any other division three school in the country the way he’s playing right now. As the recruited goalie in our senior class he’s never once complained about a lack of playing time and has shown up to practice every day with a great attitude. We’re fortunate to have three goalies this year who have all shown they’re ready to go.

We’ll get back after it today out on Youngman now that the rain has taken care of any remaining ice and snow up in the stadium. Next up is our opener against Bates on Saturday. They’ll have three games under their belt by then but hopefully our scrimmage schedule has us prepared this year, we’ll see....