Road to the ECRHA Championship: Cortland/Oswego Preview

Check out this 3 minute preview of the upcoming full feature Road to the ECRHA Championship!

Red Dragons Crowned as Champs!

This weekend the Cortland Red Dragons made their last trip of the season to Feasterville, PA for the DIII Playoffs. The weekend was kicked off by the ECRHA's Awards Banquet. CJ Gilcrist won Player of the Year honors for DIII while Lou Vetri took home the DIII Goalie of the Year. Surprisingly enough Tom Hughes was not named Rookie of the Year, even though his stats say otherwise.

An early morning game at 7 AM against #4 seeded Ramapo started the playoffs. It took Cortland 5 minutes to score a goal but once they did, they got three in one minute. The Roadrunners netted just one in the first, while the Dragons potted one more in the first to make the score 4-1 at the end of the period. The second period saw much of the same play by Cortland, scoring another four goals to Ramapo's one. Cortland with a comfortable lead went into the final period trying to move the puck around, getting shots when an opportunity came. A five goal outing in the third would give the Dragons the confidence they needed moving forward to take on rival Oswego at 12 noon. Cortland won their first game in pool play, 13-4.

A feisty Oswego team met Cortland on the rink for each teams second pool play game. The Red

Dragon squad jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a Mike Weber snipe from the point. The

two teams put on a defensive battle for the remainder of the first until Player of the Year CJ Gilcrist fired one home with :21 left to play in the period. Cortland went into the break with a 2-0 lead with a feeling of being outplayed. The second period started with the same defensive battle which ensued in the first. The physical play picked up, no penalties were called while play intensified. The Lakers held Cortland scoreless in a period for the first time this season, while the Lakers put just one past goaltender Jay Sartorius. The third period was kicked off by more physical play with penalties now coming into play. Oswego tied the game up on a power play goal. Cortland would score the next two goals (Stern, Weber), to make the score 4-2 in their favor. Oswego fired back with two quick goals of their own, one coming on the power play to even the score back up at four a piece. Max Stern found the back of the net late in the third

put Cortland back on top. However a goal from a newfound resilient Oswego would even the score up at 5-5. A late game hit by Tommy Farr on an Oswego player sent a message to the Lakers that the series wasn't over and a tone was set for a potential championship matchup. A 5-5 tie felt like a loss for Cortland, while it felt like a win for the Lakers. A possible momentum shift in the rivalry series may have occurred in the pool play game.

Cortland's third game was forfeited by Loyola, as they did not show up for the weekend. After Lehigh had beaten Ramapo earlier on the day, it left the Red Dragon-Lehigh matchup as the "semi-final" game. Winner moves on, loser goes home. Knowing the importance of the game, Cortland focused their energy to the task at hand. A slow start by the SUNY school frustrated the squad. Defenseman Gary Krupa finally broke the ice as he scored the first of the game at the 7:54 mark. Cortland would notch two more in the first from Stern and Weber as they cruised to a 3-0 lead at the break. Cortland found their stride in the second scoring four more goals (Stern, Fidotta, Krupa, Barbariantz) to really secure their place in the finals. Two early goals in the third was all Cortland could muster. Lehigh found the net behind Vetri just once in the game while Cortland skated onto the Championship game with a 9-1 victory.

A 5-5 tie against Oswego in the pool play gave Cortland a sense of anger and a sense of

unfinished business. Skating against the Lakers in the finals was the matchup that was predicted from the preseason match-ups. The time was finally here, it was time for each team to make their season count. The momentum carried over from the round robin match up as physicality was intense early until Player of the Year CJ Gilcrist tallied the first goal of the Finals at the 4:16 mark in the first period. Just :33 seconds later line mate Max Stern notched his first of the game putting Cortland out to an early 2-0 lead. The referees called the game close so the play would remain under control as there were five penalties in the first period alone (3 by Cortland and 2 by Oswego). The Lakers connected with two minutes left in the period on a power play to shorten their deficit to just one goal at the end of the stanza. The second period started with much of the play being in the neutral zone. Tom Hughes capitalized on an Oswego mishap as he made the score 3-1 in favor of the Red Dragons. The remainder of the second saw defensive play by both teams, great saves by goalies, and turnovers by the teams.

The third and final period of the Finals and season would be one to remember. The period started off with Cortland finding the momentum first. Stern would extend the Dragons lead to three goals at the 1:27 mark in the period. A desperate sort of play was then adopted by the Lakers as they saw time was of the essence. However the next goal would be scored by Cortland as Tommy Farr found the back of the net on a pass down low by Chris Fidotta. With the score at 5-1 Cortland added one more goal by Stern, his third of the game, to lengthen their lead to five goals and put the Lakers away. But 12 seconds after Sterns goal, the line of Farr and Fidotta were out with the defensive pairing of Gary Krupa and Brendan Joyce. The puck dropped for the face-off, after some jostling for the puck Farr gained control and passed the puck off to Fidotta. Back turned, Farr was cross-checked from behind and his head was slammed to the ground as Oswego's Chris Galante jumped on Farr's back and continued to punch the back of his head. Fidotta jumped on Galante

and an all out fight broke ensued. Farr skated away while teammates Joyce, Krupa, and Fidotta fended off the four Oswego players on the rink. Farr's chin was split and bloodied, requiring stitches after the game. All players on the rink at the time received roughing minors, while Galante gathered up 24 PIM's including DQ's and fighting. Farr would return to the surface to finish the game. After some time sorting out the man power and wether or not to continue the game, it was decided to finish the last three plus minutes of the game. Cortland, outraged by the fight that had occurred, continued to pile on the goals showing up the Lakers. Three more goals were scored by Mike Weber, Stern, and Krupa to finish off the game. Cortland skated away with a 9-1 win and the ECRHA's DIII Championship.

Freshmen Fidotta and Hughes were lucky enough to be apart of the first Championship team in the history of the University and they hope to win many more at the Division II level in the coming years. Juniors Krupa, Vetri, Stern, Gilcrist, Weber, and Croce look to carry the winning tradition to DII next season as well.

All players over the weekend notched at least two points in the four games played with Max Stern leading the way with 17 points. Senior Sean Glynn, who was out for the season with a blood clot in his leg, stood on the bench with crutches as the coach of the Champion Red Dragons. Fourth year players Mike Barbariantz, Lou Vetri, Sean Glynn and Tommy Farr finally got to hoist the coveted Championship Trophy for the first time. Seniors Barbariantz, Glynn, Farr, Bob Motto, and Joyce will graduate as Champions.

Best of luck goes out to all graduating seniors in their future endeavors and a big thank you goes out as well to all players, parents, and fans for being a part of the first ever Championship title in the history of Cortland Roller Hockey. Looking forward to next season, as already stated the Red Dragons will be moving up to the ECRHA's DII hoping to clinch a bid to the National Championships next March. Also moving up to DII with the team as a coach Cortland's former President and Captain Tommy Farr.

On a side note over the weekend, Oswego's Ryan Oliveri, a filming major had all his cameras at the playoff event. The rivalry of Cortland and Oswego was captured on film with gameplay, interviews, and raw footage. Oliveri's project is a spin off of the NHL's 24/7 which follows two teams leading up to the Winter Classic. This spin gives fans a look into the hotels, locker room, and pre and post game speeches. Be on the lookout for the project to come online in the near future! This will chronicle Cortland's Championship run!

Cortland Suffers First Loss, Rebounds vs Oswego, Glynn Lost for Year

The Red Dragons traveled up to Glastonbury, CT for their last regular season games. The marquee matchup of the day for Cortland was against Queens College, who came into the day in second place in Division II. The Knights started the game of quick netting a flukey goal from near center ice just 2:29 into the game. Gary Krupa evened the game back up less than a minute later on a pass by Player of the Year Finalist CJ Gilcrist. Queens had two more goals before the end of the period to send it into the break up 3-1. In the second period Cortland scratched its way closer to the lead on a goal by Player of the Year Finalist Max Stern. However, the Knights extended their lead back to two with 1:24 left to play in the second. The third period started quick with a goal by Rookie of the Year Finalist Tom Hughes on a sneaky back door pass from Brendan Joyce. Finalists for the POTY hooked up to tie the game at four with Gilcrist putting the puck home. But just thirty seconds later, Queens scored once more to put them in the lead. With five minutes left in the game Hughes pulled off a great dangle on the Queens goalie, Josh Krantz, to even the score at five. This caused the Knights to take a timeout to compose themselves. With two minutes left to play Queens scored a wrap around goal that went right through Lou Vetri's legs. Cortland found themselves looking for a quick answer. The Knights took a penalty at the 1:47 mark of the period. This put the Dragons on the man advantage for the rest of the game. Quick puck movement and shots from all angles proved to no avail. The Red Dragons came close on a shot from Gilcrist that hit the post. Cortland faltered for the first time this season, 6-5.

This sent a message not only to the ECRHA, but to the NCRHA. During the leagues live blogging session, a fan brought up a question that read, "Queens BARELY survived this exhibition with a DIII team???" League officials responded with these two remarks: "Cortland is an amazing team. Would be competitive nationally in DII." "Yeah, don't have to read too much into that. Cortland is really good. They would be a very very good DII team." These two comments proves that Cortland has proved to the league that they are prepared to take the jump to Division II next

season.

With the second game of the day against rivals Oswego, Cortland took the rink with a boatload of confidence after barely losing to powerhouse Queens College. The Lakers didn't stand a chance after the first period. Cortland notched five goals (Barbariantz, Farr, Fidotta, Stern [2]), to Oswego's one. The Red Dragons took a laxed approach to the second period as they only scored one goal. The third and final period saw more high quality Cortland hockey as they netted five more goals.

While this game was not a usual Cortland vs Oswego rivalry game, as there was not a huge amount of physical play, one stat that proved Cortland is the favorites going into playoffs. The Dragons allowed just nine Laker shots on goal. Cortland plays the Lakers for their second game of the playoffs in pool play.

Sad news was also brought to the Cortland team this weekend. Senior defenseman Sean Glynn has been lost for the year due to a blood clot in his leg. Glynn has been an iron man for the squad since his freshman year, 2008. Prior to this weekend, Sean played in every single game in Cortland Roller Hockey history, a feat matched only by Tommy Farr. Glynn was having a career year in his first season in defense. He started plays from the defensive zone every game. His goal each and every game was to not allow any goals while he was on the rink. A mindset of a true defenseman and teammate. Sean is still the current secretary of the club. His hard work in the front office has brought the team to where it is today. From the Cortland Red Dragons family, we would all like to wish Sean a safe and speedy recovery. Glynn will be on the bench for playoffs as his status with the team has been changed to coach, making him the first ever coach in the history of the program.

Gilcrist, Stern, Vetri, Hughes, Farr, and Cortland vs Oswego Rivalry Finalists for Awards

Today the ECRHA announced the finalists for this years first annual awards banquet to be held on March 2nd, the Friday of playoff weekend. CJ Gilcrist and Max Stern have both been named finalists for Division III's Player of the Year Award. Gilcrist, MVP of the All-Star game, currently has 21 goals and 18 assists for 39 points, in just 9 games this season. He is up against Max Stern who currently has 27 goals and 12 assists for 39 points as well. Stern, however, was an All-Star snub this season, but he proved his skill by winning the 3 on 0 Breakaway Challenge. They will both be up against Loyola's Kyle Peiffer.

Tom Hughes is a finalist for Division III's Rookie of the Year. Hughes has 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points on the year. An astounding rookie performance has certainly earned him this honor. He will be up against Loyola's Frank Kopicki and Ramapo's Jeremy Higginson.

Lou Vetri is a finalist for Goalie of the Year. Vetri's outstanding play this season has earned him the recognition he deserves. His 6 wins, 1.50 GAA, and .899 save percentage all rank first in Division III. He will be up against Oswego's Chris Galante and Nick Wojton.

Tommy Farr is a finalist for Team Representative of the Year. Farr's work in the front office with the ECRHA's League Officials has earned him this honor. He is up against Penn State's Adam Bogert and Delaware's Zach Pertes.

Finally the Cortland vs Oswego rivalry is up for Rivalry of the Year. The intense games between

these two teams, brothers Mike and Tyler Barbariantz and Tommy and Billy Farr, battles between Hudson Valley friends have earned these two teams this honor. The captains of the teams will accept this award if won, Tommy Farr (Cortland) and Brian Gambarella (Oswego). This rivalry is up against Stony Brook vs Hofstra and Neumann vs West Chester, four Division I schools.

With all the individual finalists announced as well as team rivals, Cortland still has some unfinished business on the rink. This weekend will be a true test as the Red Dragons will faceoff against Queens College, who is currently in second place in Division II. The second game of the day will have Cortland play their rivals Oswego in a feature game, their second of the year.

All-Star Game Video

Check out CJ Gilcrist, Lou Vetri, and Tommy Farr playing with Division III's finest against Division B's Best. When all was said and done Gilcrist took home the MVP.

DIII vs DB AS 2012-MPEG-4 from ECRHA Gameday on Vimeo.

Cortland Clinches Number One Seed

The Red Dragons kicked off their Spring semester with a huge bang last weekend in Feasterville, PA. The first game of the weekend called Lehigh to the rink to take on Cortland. However, the Hawks, being just two hours from Feasterville, decided to leave on Saturday morning to try and make it to the 6 A.M. start time. Due to the winter weather, Lehigh did not make it, thus forfeiting to Cortland. The Dragons being awake and ready for the game, had a light skate around for the hour time slot.

With the Dragons being quite angry about the Lehigh “no-show” in the morning, Loyola was next on the schedule at 2 P.M. A furious Cortland squad showed up, notching eight goals in the first period alone. The first period was capped by Max Stern’s hat trick. Other goals in the period were Tom Hughes (2), Gary Krupa, Mike Barbariantz, and Tommy Farr. In the second Cortland scored four more times, with Mike Weber picking up three assists in the period. The third and final period of the game saw the Dragons pick up seven more goals, and give up just one fluke goal that deflected off of defenseman’s Mike Weber’s skate and crossed the goal line Lou Vetri was manning. With a 19-1 win, easily the largest goal out put in one game in Cortland history, Stern netted seven goals while Hughes notched four.

Ramapo was etched into the 8 A.M. time slot versus Cortland on Sunday morning. The Dragons, once again anxious to get the scoring going, netted six goals in the first period,

again with Stern scoring a hat trick, this one of the natural variety. A seven goal showing by Cortland in the second period was more than enough to seal the victory in the early morning game. However, three more goals in the third would cap off the morning victory in favor of the Dragons, 16-0.

Coming off of two blow-out wins, Cortland faced their rivals Oswego in the biggest game of the weekend. Cortland started the game a bit rusty from playing run and gun offense to adjusting to playing a steady stay at home defensive game against the Lakers. The new tandem of Mitch Croce and Chris Fidotta really clicked on all cylinders over the weekend. They got the scoring started on a nice play set up by Fidotta with Croce netting the goal. With just thirty seconds left to play and the Red Dragons on the man advantage, Mike Weber capitalized and scored the second goal of the game on a pass by Stern.

Going into the second period Cortland was looking to extend its lead quickly, however Oswego had other plans. Just 43 seconds into the second stanza, the Lakers cut their lead in half on a goal. No goals were scored in the middle of the period, however there was a good amount of rough play along the boards and in front of the net. With 2:02 left to play in the period CJ Gilcrist finally found the back of the net to put the Red Dragons back up by two. Then again with just 13 seconds left on the clock, Max Stern found the back of the net for his 16^th goal of the weekend, an extremely impressive mark for which he was rewarded with the number one star of the weekend. This put Cortland up 4-1 at the end of the period and they didn’t look back in the third. The Dragons tallied three more goals in the game from Gilcrist, Krupa, and Fidotta. Cortland skated to a 7-1 win and now holds a 3-0 record over the Lakers this season.

Now 12-0 on the season, Cortland has secured first place in D-III with 24 points. Three forfeits are scattered into that 12-win mark. Cortland has only played 9 games, however they have scored 111 goals in those nine and have given up just 16 (9 of the 16 being to Oswego). The squad will play their last regular season games in Glastonbury, CT. The first team on the schedule will be Queens College, a Division II school. This will be Cortland’s biggest test of the season so far. If they can give Queens a game and even come out victorious, it will be a huge step forward for a program that just four years ago was being blown out by teams 13-0. The other game on the Glastonbury schedule will be the Oswego Lakers, the ECRHA’s featured game of the weekend.

GIlcrist Brings Home ASG MVP, Stern's Team Wins Skills

Not to be forgotten in this weekends games are the All-Star Events. First the All-Star Game was played at 1 P.M. Goalie Lou Vetri, CJ Gilcrist, and Tommy Farr were all named starters for the DIII Team. The B Team started things off quickly with 2 goals. However Cortland’s Gilcrist answered back at the end of the period. To start the second period, the DIII All-Stars scored

three straight goals (Peiffer [Loyola], Farr [Cortland], and Gambardella [Oswego]), to take a 4-2 lead. The B All-Stars battled back netting two more goals and shortening their deficit to just one. However, Gilcrist sniped two more goals for the team to take them into the break leading 6-4. In the third it was much of the same Gilcrist dominance as we are used to seeing on the Cortland squad. CJ added two more goals to his performance while the D-III All-Stars skated to a 9-6 victory over the B All-Stars. CJ Gilcrist was named MVP of the game by scoring 5 goals and adding one assist, claiming his prize of custom Revision Hockey Wheels.

In the Fastest Skater Event, Tom Hughes was determined to prove he was the fastest skater in

the ECRHA. Hughes won his first two elimination events and advanced to the quarterfinals against Jay Quinn of Queens College. Hughes dancing at the line seemed eager to begin the race. His short, quick strides beat out Quinn’s long strides by a hair. Hughes moved on to the Final Four to face Ed Jones of Neumann College. At the start of the race Hughes crouched down and starting swaying back and forth proving he was ready to begin while Jones waited calmly at the starting line. The race was neck and neck for the entire time until Hughes slipped a bit coming out of a turn. Hughes had already raced three times and this was his fourth, a valiant effort that fell just short.

In the 3-0 Breakaway Contest, Chris Fidotta, Tom Hughes, Max Stern (substituting for Gary Krupa), and netminder Lou Vetri all were placed on separate teams for the contest. Fidotta, Hughes, and Vetri’s teams were all knocked out in the first round. However, Stern’s team of Pat Rosa (Hofstra), Matt Mendolia (Queens), and goalie Zack Back (UConn) made it to the finals on the extremely talented play of Back. In the finals Stern/Rosa/Mendolia connected three times to put their team up 3-1 at the end of the contest. Each member of the team won a set of Revision Hockey Wheels. Stern kindly donated his wheels to Gary Krupa, as he took his spot in the contest.

Congratulations to all of the All-Stars and Skills Competition competitors for putting on a great show! Thanks to the ECRHA’s Marketing Team for putting all of the events together!

Huge Schedule Change; Cortland Oswego Showdown Sunday

With the news of the Syracuse Orange dropping their team from the ECRHA for the remainder of the season, Cortland and the entire ECRHA's schedule was changed late last night. The Red Dragons still will play Lehigh at 6AM Saturday morning followed by the All-Star Game for Vetri, Gilcrist, and Farr. The second game on the schedule still calls Loyola to the rink to face-off with Cortland at 2PM, immediately after the ASG.

However, Sunday's schedule has been tweaked to fill the void 'Cuse left. Cortland will now play Ramapo at 8AM. The Red Dragons then have a four hour break to game plan and rest up for their biggest competition, the Oswego Lakers at noon Sunday. In the last meeting of the

"Cortswego" Series, a phrase coined by Cortland's own Sean Glynn, the Dragons smothered the Lakers with 35 shots. The Lakers had just 12 shots (Cortland matched that 12 shot mark by the end of the first period). The final score of the game was 11-3 in favor of Cortland. With the win Cortland sailed on to win its next four match-up's. This game could possibly be the last time Cortland skates against the Lakers until playoffs, so this game should set the tone for the rest of the season.

With the Orange dropping its program, Cortland received two forfeit wins, improving its record to an impressive 8-0. Easily tops in the division. During this All-Star Weekend Cortland can lock up first place with just two wins. However, Cortland is looking for another clean sweep of the weekend.

Don't forget to keep up with the weekends games on www.ecrha.net and the leagues twitter handle @ECRHAHockey. Stay warm and be safe with the inclement weather tomorrow!

All-Star Weekend Schedule Posted; Three of Five All-Star Starters are Red Dragons

With classes starting on Wednesday at SUNY Cortland, the second half of the season is just five days away. The ECRHA's annual All-Star Event Weekend kicks off on Saturday morning with Cortland playing the first game of the weekend against rival Lehigh at 6 A.M. The last time these two teams met in Pottstown, PA two months ago, the Red Dragons ripped the Hawks 11-2. After the early morning affair with the Hawks the Cortland squad will take a rest until their 2 P.M. game against the Loyola Greyhounds. Cortland beat the 'Hounds 14-3 with seven skaters in Pottstown in their last meeting. The Dragons will receive a much needed 17 hour break after the Loyola game before facing off against a scrappy Ramapo team. The final game of the weekend will be against the Syracuse Orange at 12 noon Sunday. Cortland beat the Orange 10-0 in the first game of the season back in October.

Along with the four games for the Cortland squad, three players will have an extra game over the weekend. Goalie Lou Vetri (Smithtown, NY), forward CJ Gilcrist (Monroe, NY), and forward Tommy Farr (Washingtonville, NY), have all been selected for the ECRHA's Division III vs Division B's All-Star Game. Each Cortland player has been named as a starter for the team along with Oswego's Billy Farr and Syracuse's Jared Bly.

Vetri has been D-III's best goalie all season allowing just 7 goals against in six games. Lou leads the league in wins (4), goals against average (1.75), and save percentage (.885). Vetri has taken over as an assistant captain this season. Off the ice he has also taken over as President of the club. In Vetri's fourth year in the league, he has certainly proven to the team and the league that he is one of the toughest goalie to score on. With Vetri playing the best hockey of his career, he is looks to keep carrying the Red Dragons for the remainder of the season and into playoffs. This is Lou's first All-Star Selection.

CJ Gilcrist has come to Cortland and taken the league by storm. He currently leads D-III in points (29), tied for first in goals (16), tied for first in assists (13), and leads in star points (12). Gilcrist has been on fire in the last four games notching 24 points. He looks to carry over his hot streak to the second half of the semester and into playoffs. This is CJ's first All-Star Selection, in his rookie year.

Tommy Farr has made his fourth consecutive All-Star Game. Last year in the All-Star Game Farr notched a goal en route to a shootout loss for his team. This year Tommy has 12 points including 4 power play goals, good enough for first in the league. Farr is currently 18 points off from the elusive century mark. He looks to captain the team to an undefeated season for the first time in school history.

Check out the entire D-III All-Star roster here: http://ecrha.net/article.php?article_id=54989

Along with the All-Star Game comes the skills competition. The skills competition has made it back to the ECRHA by way of fastest skater and 3-0 challenge. This year Cortland has 4 participants in the contests. Freshman Tom Hughes will participate in the fastest skater contest, his first match up will be against Corey Bauman of UMass. Hughes will have to beat four other competitors in order to be crowned fastest in the ECRHA.

Gary Krupa and freshman Chris Fidotta will be with a team of two other skaters and a goalie in the 3-0 breakaway challenge. Lou Vetri is also playing goalie for the contest. Krupa will be paired with Matt Mendolia of Queens College, Pat Rosa of Hofstra, and goalie Zak Back of UConn. Fidotta will be paired with Brian Pershinsky of Binghamton, Scott Kalbfleish of Temple, and goalie Max Sparr of UMass. Goalie Lou Vetri will be with the skating tandem of Rob Lerro of Northeastern, Matt Lester of Ramapo, and Jared Pollet of Rhode Island.

Who will win if Krupa or Fidotta's teams are paired up against Vetri? Should be interesting!

Check out all of the Skills Competition players and match ups here: http://ecrha.net/article.php?article_id=54990

Good luck to all Red Dragons in the All-Star Game and skills competition this weekend! Don't forget to keep up with all of the Cortland games on www.ecrha.net! Also be sure to follow the ECRHA on Twitter at their handle @ECRHAHockey as they are sure to post updates throughout the weekend on all games, divisions, All-Stars, and skills competition.

First Semester Wrap-Up; Will Cortland Be Stopped?

After the first six games of the regular season, the Red Dragons sit atop Division III with a perfect 6-0 record. What may be even more impressive is that the Cortland squad has scored 66 goals and has allowed just 14 in those six games. Assistant Captain, goalie has proven to be on top of his game this, his fourth, season. Verti has allowed just 7 goals in four starts, good enough for a 1.75 GAA. Lou has even chipped in on the offensive side of the game, assisting on a goal from his own crease.

Over the past week, ECRHA league officials have had a lot to say about the Red Dragons. In the Roundtable discussion, here is what Commissioner Bill Bourque and marketing members Ian Prescott, Jesse Creek, and Phil DaSilva had to say about the current state of Division III:

"Ian: I would just like to mention DIII might have the biggest rivalry ever the competition between team representatives of Oswego and Cortland, brothers Billy and Tommy Farr. I can't imagine how brutal Christmas dinner is going to be. With so many inter-squad connections Cortland and Oswego just don't like one another.

Bill: I think its going to be those two teams in the final this season as well. Cortland has been the best team all season, as two victories over Oswego displays, however, Oswego made the DIII final last season and may have what it takes to pull off the upset this season.

Jesse: It is looking that way. Cortland might get a little complacent at times, but they certainly get fired up for any games involving Oswego. Don't forget- we really have not seen a full Syracuse team. Will they ever have one? Who knows.

Ian: On the southern side of the conference I'm pretty impressed with the bit of nastiness developing between Lehigh and Ramapo Ramapo works very hard game in and game out and have always been a very well run team, Lehigh has developed into a formidable team in a short year as well.

Bill: Lehigh and Ramapo are in a dog fight for the playoff bye and Southern Conference Title, who do you give the edge in that battle?

Bill: If either of these teams can put it all together, they might just make a run against Cortland or Oswego.

Ian: I'd give the slight edge to Lehigh who are leading the season series between them and Ramapo.

Bill: I am going to turn around and pick Ramapo. They have one more chance to even the series, I expect them to take it.

Jesse: I am going to say Lehigh. They have enough scoring, and are a more disciplined team than Ramapo. Any time you can spend more time on the power play than your opponent, you gotta like your chances to win that game."

After talking about the Cortland Oswego rivalry, something the league hypes up to be a huge event, Creek, Bourque, and Prescott made their predictions on who will win each divisions championship in March. Here's what each said:

"Jesse: WCU over Stony Brook, Northeastern over Pittsburgh, Cortland over Oswego, and West Chester over Suffolk.

Jesse: Bill?

Bill: WCU over Neumann, Pittsburgh over Queens, Cortland over Oswego, and West Chester over Rowan.

Jesse: Interesting.

Bill: Ian?
Ian: WCU over Hofstra, Northeastern over Pittsburgh, Cortland over Oswego, West Chester Over Hofstra."

With each member selecting Cortland to take the crown, the sights have been set high. After the Roundtable discussion, a semester wrap-up was written, looking at each of D-III's teams highs and lows, subtitled "Who Will Take Down Cortland?". Here's what Cortland's report

looks like:

"After one semester of play, the season could not have gone much better for the Red Dragons. Sporting a perfect 6-0-0 record, Cortland has outscored its opponents by an impressive 66-14 margin. Leading the way offensively for Cortland are CJ Gilcrist (16-13-29) and Thomas Hughes (9-11-20). Perhaps the most interesting part of Cortland’s season thus far is the fact that margin of victory for five of their games were at least eight or more goals. Going into the second half of the season, one wonders if Cortland can keep up this torrid pace, or will they fall into a sense of complacency?"

Once again, with the league favoring Cortland to take it all, will they be able to do so? The spring semester lies ahead of the Red Dragons starting on January 21 with games against Syracuse, Loyola, Lehigh, and Ramapo.

Gilcrist, Krupa Earn Player of the Week Honors

CJ Gilcrist (Monroe, NY) was named first star of the week for the Pottstown event during the ECRHA's Roundtable Discussion between Commissioner Bill Bourque and Marketing member Jesse Creek. Gilcrist registered 12 goals and 12 assists for a total of 24 points over the four game weekend for Cortland. Jesse Creek noted about CJ, "... he pretty much had a hand in half of his teams goals this weekend, which is pretty impressive especially when you score forty-nine goals." GIlcrist currently has a total of 29 points through the first 6 games of the season for the Red Dragons.

Gary Krupa (Port Jefferson, NY)

earned third star of the week. Gary had 15 points over the weekend. Krupa, the newly named assistant captain of the Cortland squad is leading by example. As a defenseman Krupa has tallied 47 career points through his first 22 games as a Red Dragon. He is second on the career leaders.

Commissioner Bourque stated in the discussion, "... they (Cortland) seem to be the favorites right now to win Division III." With Cortland being 6-0 heading into the winter break they have a stranglehold on the standings. The Dragons have netted 66 goals in 6 games averaging 11 goals per game. They have also allowed only 14 goals against thus far for a total of 2.33 goals against per game. Cortland is on pace to break every record in school history. They are only 9 goals off of their 75 goal output in 2010-2011.

First Semester Play Ends; Cortland Continues to Dominate

The Cortland Red Dragons traveled to Pottstown, PA over the weekend to finish their first semester schedule. The most anticipated game of the weekend was Cortland's first game against the Oswego Lakers. The previous meeting between these two teams was a very physical game, tallying up 75 minutes of penalties combined. However, the Red Dragons would prevail in that meeting with an 8-5 victory.

This time around, penalties would also play a role in the game. While Cortland put up 6 PIM's, Oswego tallied 16. This was a deciding factor of the game. The first period started out with Cortland controlling the puck, Adam Gould scored his first goal as a Red Dragon just three minutes into the period. For the next six minutes, the two teams were trying to find the next spark to set up a scoring play. This came at the 9:28 mark when Gary Krupa fired a shot past Oswego's goaltender on a pass by Sean Glynn. With a 2-0 lead with 2:32 to play in the first period, Oswego was looking to set a tone going into the second. At the 10:13 mark, Laker Brian Gambardella found a hole in Cortland goalie Lou Vetri on a short wrist shot. Just over one minute later, a slapper by Krupa at the point was blocked by Oswego's Ryan Oliveri, who skated down on a breakaway and scored a shorthanded goal to knot the game up at two goals a piece at the end of the period.

Cortland started the second period on a carry-over power play in which they couldn't connect

on. However, another penalty by Oswego sent the Dragons on yet another power play. CJ Gilcrist found the back of the net on that man advantage to put Cortland back in the lead, 3-2. Once again, Oswego took a penalty and connected for their second shorthanded goal of the game to even up the game at three. On the same power play opportunity for Cortland, Gilcrist fired another shot past the Laker goalie to go up by a goal again. With the lead, the Dragons controlled the tone of the game for the rest of the game with crisp passes and cheeky moves around defenders. They registered four more even strength goals before the end of the stanza (Gilcrist, Krupa, Hughes, Stern). The six goal second period gave the Red Dragons 7-3 lead going into the third.

With the third period looming, Cortland anticipated a physical final period of play. With the play intensifying, Oswego took eight minutes of penalties, all on roughing calls. This opened the door for Cortland. Their power play dominated scoring three more power play goals in the period to shut down the Lakers. The Red Dragons rolled to an 11-3 win over their rival Laker foes in the first game of the weekend. The Cortland power play of Hughes, Fidotta, Gilcrist, and Stern shined in the game notching four out of the five power play goals.

With the win over Oswego behind them, Cortland prepared to face the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in their next match up. In the pre-season preview written by ECRHA's Jesse Creek, Lehigh noted "Lehigh has their first game against Cortland circled on their calendar. The consensus

amongst the team was that the games against them last year were not their best. Avenging those losses is fresh on the Mountain Hawks mind. Playing Cortland will also be interesting to see where they stand in the division, as they should be one of the stronger teams that have returned. In their eyes, Cortland is the team to beat in Division III in 2011-2012." Cortland took this statement to heart and was determined to prove to the Hawks why they should be considered the team to beat this year.

The Red Dragons wasted no time to make a statement as Max Stern scored just one minute into the contest on an assist by Mike Weber in his second game of the season after suffering from internal bruising. Later on in the first, Stern struck again, this time on the man advantage. This was all the scoring the Dragons could muster in the period as they fired off 13 shots. Cortland found their scoring power in the second as they netted five goals by five different players (Fidotta, Krupa, Farr, Weber, Stern). On the five goals, Sean Glynn and CJ Gilcrist each had three assists, while Krupa had two. Lehigh had one goal in the period on a shot that bounced off Jay Sartorius' leg. The period ended in favor of the Dragons 7-1. The third saw much of the same dominance by Cortland as they netted three even strength goals (Hughes, Krupa, Gilcrist) and one on a power play one timer goal as Glynn fired a pass across the rink to Farr who put it top shelf. Cortland won the game 11-2 and gave Lehigh reason to believe they were right about calling the Red Dragons the team to beat.

The third game of the day called Ramapo to the rink to try and give Cortland their first loss of the season. The Roadrunners still had the bad taste in their mouth from pre-season when Cortland won 13-0. This game saw much of the same dominance by the Dragons as they scored early and often. The first period of the game saw Cortland score five goals in the first eight minutes. Farr found the back of the net on the power play and Fidotta scored a goal on a four on two penalty kill. Other goal scorers of the period were Krupa, Gilcrist, and Fidotta all even strength goals. The second period was much more physical as the teams had a scuffle in front of goalie Vetri. Bob Motto and Mike Weber were given penalties as well as two Ramapo players. Cortland showed it power play asset once more as the only two goals in the period were scored on the man advantage by Farr and Gould. In the third period Ramapo scored

one goal just 48 seconds into the stanza. The remainder of the game was dictated by Cortland as they netted one more power play goal by Fidotta, two more short handed goals by Gilcrist and Hughes, and three even strength goals (Gilcrist [2], Gould). Cortland rolled away from Ramapo with a 13-2 win to end the day with a 3-o record.

A final game against Loyola for the weekend and the semester would set the tone for the winter away from the rink. The Red Dragons, short players due to commitments on campus, were with an eight man roster for the game. The first period was handled with ease by the Dragons as the notched five goals (Gilcrist [2], Hughes [2], Krupa) while only allowing one goal. Cortland came out sluggish in the second as the Greyhounds scored two quick goals to shrink their deficit to two goals. This was a call for Cortland to wake up. The Dragons were undoubtedly up to the task as they wouldn't allow another 'Hound goal for the remainder of the game. Their shots and puck movement picked up considerably as they netted 9 more goals to polish off a determined Loyola squad.

The Cortland Red Dragons finished the weekend with a 4-0 record, the first in the history of

the University. Cortland also finished the first semester undefeated with a 6-0 record. Dating back to pre-season, the squad is on an unbelievable 9 game winning streak. Just to put that in perspective, in Cortland's pervious three seasons they had a total of 10 regular season wins. The power that the Dragons added in the offseason has certainly made a huge difference in the play of the team. CJ Gilcrist now has 29 points to lead the league. Hughes (20), Krupa (19), and Stern (19) are trying to catch up to Gilcrist in points as they are the next closest in the league to him. Sean Glynn is having a career year as his move to defense has surprisingly increased his point total. Glynn already has 13 assists (tied with Gilcrist for first in the league), and with his one goal on the year he has already surpassed his highest point total of 11 in his freshman year. Cortland veteran goalie Lou Vetri is also having a career year. He is currently 4-0 with just 7 goals against in those four games. His goals against average of 1.75 is tops in the league along with his save percentage of 88.5. Players are seldom to find the back of the net against Verti. He is the backbone of the Cortland team and looks to carry them for the rest of the year.

Over the weekend, Cortland amassed a total of 49 goals and allowed only 9. Of the 49 goals the Red Dragons scored, 11 were on the power play. At the mid-way point of the season Max Stern and Tommy Farr are tied for the league lead in power play goals with 4 each. With 40 power play chances in the season, Cortland has capitalized 15 times for a 37.5% success rate. The Dragons also have stressed keeping their opponents shot totals low. This has shown through the first six games as they have only allowed 102 shots to reach their netminders. In stark contrast, Cortland has fired off 225 shots on goal good enough for a shooting percentage of 29.3%. A stat that recognizes Cortland's accurate shots past the opposing goalies.

Along with Vetri's superb play thus far, he is preparing to take over in the front office aspect of the club. As treasurer since the clubs inception, Lou has made numerous contributions to the club. He will take over as President of the team as Tommy Farr will be off campus next semester student teaching to finish his degree in physical education. Gary Krupa will take over Vetri's position of treasurer in the front office starting in the Spring semester.