By Zoe Jurmann
#23, Forward, Colin Morrow
Syracuse, NY– This weekend the Syracuse Orange (3-8-0) head down to Long Island to take on the Stony Brook Seawolves (9-2-1) for the second time this season.
It was the season opener last time the Orange played the Seawolves, with the Orange dropping both games 8-1. Those games were the first ACHA games for 17 rookies on the Orange, plus the first in almost 18 months for the rest of the players. Now, after 11 games, the Orange are looking ahead to this weekend with confidence and growing skill.
Since that first series, the Orange have grown a lot as individual players, and as a team as a whole. Head Coach Chris Timmons is proud of har far his team has come since the first game of the season and is ready to take on the Seawolves again.
“I think we have grown exponentially compared to that first weekend. When you look at the lack of experience and first games coming back after 18 months, we are in a much better position now than we were at the start of the season,” said the first-year head coach.
Senior Colin “Slim” Morrow agrees, “we’ve built a lot of chemistry since then. That was definitely tough playing with 18 guys who have never played together. We’re starting to gel and get more comfortable playing with each other.”
Freshman Max Gargurevich, who played in the second of the two games against the Seawolves, feels positive about not only the team’s abilities and skills, but also in his own.
“We have come a very long way since that first series, we have a lot more confidence in our systems and a lot more chemistry together, ” Gargurevich explained. “I think I have a lot more confidence in my game with a lot more experience under my belt and some chemistry from playing a lot with Slim the last few weeks.”
While this weekend means a lot to the team, it’s the rookies who want to show what they’re made of and prove their skill. For freshman Evan Vassilovsky, this game is about redemption.
“I definitely feel we have something to prove this weekend. We’ve already played half of our conference games and have little to show for it,” said Vassiolvsky. “To be able to compete as hard as we can and finally put together all the pieces we’ve been working on against arguably the best team in the conference would be a huge statement for us heading into the second half.”
The Seawolves are known for playing a fast and physical game, but the Orange don’t plan to play the Seawolves’ game, instead of trying to reinforce their own.
Coach Timmons explains, “the approach though will be to play with more urgency, which we need to play with especially with playoffs dwindling since the format is now the top four teams. We need to play hungry and out-compete teams if we want to win.”
During the first match-up, the games were full of penalties due to both teams’ high energy, fast and physical play. This weekend, the Orange look to minimize the need for physicality and focus on the skills they have been working on in practice.
“Stony Brook is a fast team with a ton of experience, so in order to be successful we need to manage the puck better and limit their opportunities,” continued Timmons. “[It] falls back to our systems and playing our game, if we maintain possession for a majority of the game, we keep them from having opportunities”
Morrow also believes that this game is less about changing their style of play, and more so limiting the mistakes made by the Orange during previous games.
“We just need to make sure we limit our mistakes and play our systems. Stony Brook is the type of team that will make you pay if you are undisciplined and make mistakes,” said Morrow.
The Orange have also been battling injuries and illness on all ends of the ice for the past few weeks, and are thankfully getting some of their key players back ahead of this game.
Coach Timmons mentioned, “I think we had a tough week internally with guys being injured and illness that caught up to our guys. It’s primarily the reason why we had a completely different lineup this past weekend, but I think this week after regaining those guys that will build confidence and have more effective practices to prepare.”
Gargurevich also commented on the work that the team has been putting in during practice this week, and how they continue to progress as a team.
“We have had a big focus on our defensive zone coverage this week, and we will continue to work on it to make sure that we protect our goalies and keep the game even,” added Gargurevich. “We know Stony Brook is a good team but we are determined to go to their barn and steal a game from them.”
The Orange know that this weekend's series against Stony Brook will be a tough one. But if they play their game with confidence, they will be able to hold their own and hope to come out with a win. You can catch the Orange as they face off against the Stony Brook Seawolves this Saturday at The Rinx on Long Island at 8:30 pm.
Contact me:
By e-mail: zjurmann@syr.edu
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