Farmingdale State Men's Hockey Triumphant in 'Rivalry for a Cure'

The men’s hockey team took on the University of Albany Saturday night, in a game that meant much more than just bragging rights and two points in the standings. The game, which took place at Freeport Recreation Center, was the Rivalry for a Cure, a benefit sponsored by the Empire Collegiate Hockey Conference as a part of the Empire Fights Cancer initiative.

Fans and players contributed to the cause. The Rams were sporting commemorative white and pink jerseys along with matching skate laces and several players even used pink sticks during the game. Spectators were asked for a small donation to the cause at the door in exchange for a puck tagged with a raffle number.

Despite the heartfelt cause the event was promoting, the game itself was business as usual for the two rivals. The Rams, who also celebrated their annual senior night Saturday, were riled up and straight away were on the attack. The first minute of the game saw the Rams pin Albany in their own zone, which resulted in their opponents taking a hooking penalty 57 seconds in. Although the Rams were unable to capitalize on the man advantage, it allowed them to build early momentum which carried them throughout the entire first period.

The surge in the opening frame eventually led to a Rams goal at 6:48 of the first by Kyle Pistani. The goal came before Albany had even registered a shot on Farmingdale goaltender Patrick Mione, who only ended up facing only three Albany attempts by the time the first period buzzer sounded. Albany was lucky to make it out of the first period down only one and can attribute most of their woes to not being able to contain the terrific display of speed and physicality by the Rams.

The second period saw Albany turn it up a bit and capitalize on a power play at the near mid-way mark of the game to tie the game 1-1. The Rams found themselves back on top before the end of the period though, thanks to a goal by Matthew Ginsberg, which made the game 2-1 and proved to be the game winner. The third period brought more of what was seen in the first- Rams domination. The third goal of the game came from a sweet short side wrister by Michael Rotola on the power play 1:15 into the frame. Finally Matthew Ginsberg added another tally thanks to his wrist shot from the slot 4:14 into the third to finish off the scoring at 4-1 in favor of the Rams. 

Heroes/Turning Point: The Rams can thank Matthew Ginsberg for scoring the go ahead goal late in the second period, one in which Albany had come out strong in. The goal would also be considered the turning point of the game. Ginsberg later added a second goal in the third.

Quotable: “It was wonderful to watch the seniors share their farewell game with such a special event. To a man, they all said it made their final home game more special. Almost everyone has had someone close to them affected by breast cancer, so it was easy for the players to share their important day with such an important event,” said team advisor Ernie DeFalco, when asked what it was like for the team to share their senior game with the benefit.

Bottom Line: The Rams were quicker and more physical than Albany. They proved to be too much for them to handle from the opening face-off.

Key Stat: The game featured a combined 46 minutes of penalties between the two teams.

Next Game: Saturday’s game was the Ram’s final regular season home game this year.