Red Leafs drop first two games of NCAA slate

The SFU Red Leafs’ Non-Conference hockey club’s first foray into their American NCAA portion of the schedule did not go as planned, as the Red Leafs lost to Long Island University Sharks 7-5 on October 5th, and then 7-3 against the Sacred Heart Pioneers the next day.

This puts SFU’s overall record at 2-4 through the first six games of the season.

The game versus Long Island was a fast-paced and high scoring affair, and it got off to a good start for the Red Leafs as Lucas Ceccarelli potted the opener a mere 1:21 into the game when his centering pass deflected off a LIU defender.

But Long Island would respond less than five minutes later with a goal of their own to tie the game up heading into the second period.

Only 50 seconds into the middle frame, LIU would take the lead, but SFU forward Ben Ward would respond quickly tying the game up. Unfortunately for the Red Leafs, this would be the last time the game would be tied as LIU scored three more goals that period, while SFU could only muster one in response.

As the third period began, Zac Maxwell scored to make it a one goal game, only for LIU to respond just under two minutes later.

However, the Red Leafs would not go down without a fight, as Walker Erickson continued his hot start to the year after he dangled a Shark out of his jockstrap on his way to scoring a beauty.

Unfortunately LIU would add an empty netter to make the final score 7-5 in an offensive explosion for both squads.

As for the game against Sacred Heart, SFU continued its season-long struggle to keep pucks out of its net, as even though they received goals from Ward and Erickson, they still found themselves down 3-2 at the first intermission.

A mere 53 seconds into the second period, Sacred Heart’s Jeremi Tremblay scored making the score 4-2 which would hold for the rest of the period.

History would repeat itself in the third, as Sacred Heart would again score less than a minute into the final frame, and even though Austin Fraser cased home a power play goal, it would not be enough as Sacred Heart won comfortably 7-3.

With much to work on, the Red Leafs continue their NCAA tour on October 11th where they show down against Robert Morris University in Plymouth Michigan, before sticking around to play Lake Superior State University the next day.

Next home game for the Non-Conference Red Leafs is November 1st in game one of a home doubleheader with Mayville University. 

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