Jake Leamer ’20, Staff Writer
On a night where LVC dominated statistically, the Dutchmen struggled to find ways to put the puck in the back of the net.
After playing its first three games of the season on the road, LVC was finally back to Hersheypark Arena for an in-conference matchup against a winless King’s College team. Although the Dutchmen were sitting at a record of 1-2 entering Saturday night’s home opener, losses to both New England College and Wilkes University had been decided by only one goal each.
Eager to pick up a second win of the season in front of a white-out home crowd, the Dutchmen came out of the gate flying, establishing an extremely physical style of play that King’s College did not seem to be prepared for. Whenever a member of the Monarchs touched the puck, the whole arena knew that a big hit was coming from someone in the Dutchmen lineup.
LVC’s commitment to physical play paid off almost halfway into the first period, as Austen Zimmerman scored to put the Dutchmen up 1-0 off an assist from Cole Hepler. King’s College then answered with a goal nearly two minutes later by Jerry Scatena to tie the game at 1-1. Four minutes later, the Monarchs scored another goal on a Tommy Cahill shot that snuck past LVC goaltender Henry Burns. Unfortunately for the Dutchmen, the scoring in the first period was the only scoring to take place for the rest of the game, as LVC would go on to lose to the Monarchs of
King’s College by a score of 2-1.
However, the score was not an accurate reflection of LVC’s performance on the ice Saturday night. The Dutchmen outplayed King’s College for nearly the entire game, controlling the flow of the play and pinning the Monarchs in their defensive zone on multiple occasions that almost resulted in goals for LVC. LVC’s dominance on Saturday night was indicative in the final shot totals, where the Dutchmen finished with 36 shots, and the Monarchs finished with a mere 13.
LVC will look to bounce back quickly this week when the Dutchmen face SUNY Cortland on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Hersheypark Arena. On Friday, the Dutchmen will face Manhattanville College in Hershey at 7 p.m. and will travel to Neumann University on Saturday for another 7 p.m. matchup.