The News - The Student Newspaper of Choate Rosemary Hall
THE CHOATE NEWS: Monday, February 6, 2006
Boys Varsity Team Pulls Out 6-2 Win
By Corey Sherman ‘07
News Associate Editor
![]()
|
In a lower key environment than what they will be facing two weeks from now in Torino, the Women’s National Hockey dropped a scrimmage 6-2 against the Choate Boys Hockey Team in Team USA’s in their final tune-up before the Olympics.
The game was played under the rules of the women’s game in Olympic competition, which forbids checking, for example.
The boys sent two skaters to the penalty box in the first period for hitting but managed to net three goals, including one short handed one. Conor Goggin ’07 opened the scoring with a snipe from the point at 4:37.
US Women’s Head Coach Ben Smith said after the first period, “The 3-0 deficit is a big hole but I’d like to see us chip one or two in and make it a game. There have been times when we over-thought it or over-passed it and we could’ve gotten a goal or two.”
The second period saw the game truly blow open. With two early goals in the period and a third coming later on the Choate team looked to avoid any potential upset. In addition to Goggin’s goal, Captain Justin Mitchell ’06, Assistant Captain A.J. Meyer ’06, Mark Nemec ’07, Jamie Nudy ’08, and Andthony Depietto ’07 all added scores for the Boars.
Rob Wilechansky ‘07 and Chris Langstaff ‘06 split time in goal, each allowing one score.
“They put a lot of pressure on us,” Ryan Corcoran ’07 said, “and their skill level is very high so it was a pretty evenly matched after the first.”
But as the game progressed, the sheer difference between Team USA and the Boys team in physical size and strength became apparent. “As far as their strength went, they were sub-par in comparison to our usual competition,” said A.J. Ferraro ’07, “but their passing and speed was more than comparable.”
Assistant Coach Mike Velez ’00 said, “Despite the score, the women really communicated well and consequently they moved the puck better than us.
Head Coach Patrick Dennehy echoed Velez’s sentiments after the game. “Communication is something we’ve been harping on all year, and you can say it until your face turns blue and without actually seeing it the boys might not be able to do it,” he said. “I hope they took away something positive from this experience.”
One thing the team might be able to take away from this game as opposed to a regular league game was getting everyone involved. Unlike most of the previously played games, the fourth line saw a lot of action against the women.
“We have a great fourth line,” said Dennehy, “Which is something very few teams can say.”
Member of the fourth line, Jon Kuchar ’07 said, “It was good to be out there on the ice and getting some quality time.”
A Choate Hockey Reunion
Both Angela Ruggiero ’98 and Julie Chu ’99 believed that the boys have a greater sense of pride when playing girls so consequently they take the competition more seriously. Despite that, those two, and the third Choate alum, Kim Insalaco ‘01 thought that this was a great final step before the Olympics.
“It was great to be back, it made me realize what a great place it was,” said Insalaco, “but the game was much faster than we’re used to, but we expected that from them, having played Salisbury and Westy this week.”
Julie Chu ’99 added her thoughts on the result of the game and said that all of their scrimmages against guys’ teams really helped them get ready for the Olympics, especially against teams that don’t just play them as an exhibition.
Ruggiero’s comments had a tone of disappointment. “We didn’t play great but it’s only a tune-up. That’s all it is. We don’t want to come out here full throttle and get injured a couple of weeks before the Olympics. Granted they capitalized on all of our mistakes, but we could’ve played better.”
Although the game was not as close as some expected and none of the Choate Alumnae scored, Smith shared his positive sentiments about the experience.
“Looking at the rafters and seeing that Choate has produced four Olympians it really amazes me and shows the great tradition at this school and the hockey history. Hopefully people will look back at this game tonight and see the history that was made here at Choate.”
Despite the scoreboard and the belief of Ruggiero that the Girls could have played better, Smith, Insalaco, Chu and Ruggiero all believe that barring any major surprise the same hockey team that skated at the Remsen arena on Monday night should come back to America with the Gold in February.
A Final “Tune-Up”
“When we set these scrimmages up we make sure we’re familiar with the programs whom we’re going to play,” Smith said, “we make sure, by knowing the coaches that these are organized teams who are willing to play with our rules. It will be a good tune-up for us.”
The rules Smith was referring to pertains to Women’s rules which, unlike men’s NCAA rules (by which the Choate team plays), doesn’t allow hitting.
“The rules aren’t that different from the rules that we play under,” Coach Patrick Dennehy of Choate said, “this will give us a good chance to work on moving the puck because the physical aspect is removed so greatly.”
Team USA also scrimmaged the Boys Varsity teams at Westminister and Salsisbury in the week before the Choate contest, also dropping both games.
In addition to the rule changes, another task that the team faced was not getting excited for a game that does not count for their record nor is it against a usual opponent.
“We went into this game with the same mentality as any other game,” said Dennehy, “so the boys are just as excited as they always are. Monday is our work day so hopefully they will get after it today.”
The game had its fair share of controversy with rumors swirling around campus discussing whether Hilary Knight ’07, a standout on the Girls Varsity squad, would suit up with the Choate Boys to get a taste of what the future may hold for her. Though, Knight did not play, although she practiced with the Boys team once last week, and her hockey future remains bright.
“It wouldn’t shock me at all if Hilary Knight ’07 was donning the USA women’s jersey in 2010,” said one source within the Girls Hockey team.
In fact, Knight herself said that she hopes to be playing for the United States in 2010 and would’ve liked to play last Monday but her coaches decided it would be best for her not to play.
A Ticket Crunch
Deciding which students would go to the game and which would have to miss out on such a momentous event was clearly a tough task.
“The fire marshal limited us to 450 people in the rink,” said athletic Director Ned Gallagher. “I distributed the first half of the tickets to anyone within the school who is associated with the program, such as all of the kids who play hockey and then the families of the players and then the family of the Olympians. From then it went down the latter from faculty and staff to the 6th and 5th form. The good thing was that all of the 5th and 6th form students who asked for a ticket received one.”
The ticket controversy turned a school full of fans into a mob of kids dying to be a part of something special.
Mark Beaudoin ’07 said, “I may have gotten a ticket through the Athletic Department (for being a member of the JV hockey team), but seeing everyone else in frenzy over whether or not they would get a ticket for the game was a bit nerve-wracking. I was wondering if people would sell their tickets.”