Jordan Kuhns
VilleHockey.com Contributor
Marauders Broadcaster

A step in the right direction was the best way to describe last season.

The Millersville Marauders valiantly fought their way to the second round of the Great Northeastern Collegiate Hockey Conference (GNCHC) playoffs under the captaincy of Michael Carpenter and Evan Miller and the stellar goaltending of Bryan DeMarco.

After squeaking into the sixth and final playoff spot in their conference, the Marauders upset the Muhlenberg Mules 4-1 and came within one goal of potentially sending the favored Scranton Huskies home.

However, the Marauders’ great run came to an end, leaving a bitter taste in the veteran-heavy squad’s mouths.

The Marauders fought some tough battles that did not go their way throughout the season, and some the heat of the disappointment ripped the team apart at times.

“We need to show respect to each other,” said senior forward Pete Scottoline.  “If we come together as a team and all get on the same page, we will be golden.”

Former bench boss Dan Kohlemainen’s cycle-heavy game plan led the team to a place they hadn’t been to since 1993–to the second round of the playoffs.  But the Marauders’ leadership group figured they would need an extra push to get further by replacing Kohlemainen with a new coach: Scott Edwards.

“When we [the captains] interviewed Coach Edwards, one of the things that stuck out for me was his enthusiasm and dedication that he seemed to have for making our team successful,” said Scottoline.  “He seems like the kind of guy that wears his heart on his sleeve and will do anything to amp up the guys. Just having conversations with him during the interview, I was getting excited for the season.”

At times, the Marauders were a top-heavy team, leaving a lot of the scoring to captains Carpenter and Miller.

Senior forward Sean Darrah had an idea on how to fix that problem.

“We rely too much on our top line to produce goals, and the other two lines just to prevent the other team from scoring. I think if we can improve our secondary scoring drive, we will immensely improve in the win column,” he said.  “If I can prove that I can step it up and put assists and goals on the sheet, it should motivate others who may not be goal scorers or needle-threading passers to maybe play the game with more drive in those areas.”

Discipline was another area that tormented the Marauders.

In a game against the Kutztown Golden Bears, tied 2-2 in the 3rd period, the Marauders took several penalties in a row, leading to a dramatic finish by a shorthanded goal by Evan Miller with 56 seconds remaining to capture the win.

The team would rather not go through that again.

“We have a strong penalty killing unit as shown last year, but its not something that needs to be tested as often as it has been in the past,” Darrah said.

Other teams in the conference are seeing senior players graduate and potentially making those teams become weaker.  But the Marauders have a few young standouts on their roster to make their team stronger, and they don’t foresee any problems with the new kids on the block.

“I would say that our rookies definitely had a bigger impact than expected and we can only expect for their roles on the team to increase and for them to take some of the workload,” Scottoline said.  “Judging by the past experiences, there shouldn’t be too much of an adjustment for us as long as the young guys are willing to learn and pay their dues.”

But through all of the positives and negatives, faith for next season has become the talking point.

“This is our year, and it’s an expectation that everyone believes this,” said senior forward Sean Darrah.  “Maybe we will not go undefeated this season, but at the end of the day we need to have the heart, discipline, and drive to be the best.”

The familiarity of the team is agreed upon to be the key to next season’s new direction.

“Chemistry is building, and the fact that we only lost three players from last seasons roster, we will be able to continue to build on that bond we already have from the start of the season this year,” said Darrah.

Scottoline agreed.

“I feel like not losing too many seniors will help us in that the familiarity of the players coming back will be better as far as learning curve and adjusting lines,” he said.

The pieces are there.  The faith is there.

Now it’s time for the championship to be there too.

POSTED BY – Jordan Kuhns

What a season. What a playoff run.

Furious action happened at Grundy Recreational Center in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Millersville absolutely crushed Muhlenberg 4-1 in the first round. From what I heard, it was an absolutely dominant effort where co-captain Mike Carpenter scored twice, Dave Rothrock added one more, and Travis Duffey put ‘em away with the empty netter. During the season, the Marauders had difficulty with the Muhlenberg two-headed attack of Cody McKinney and Andrew Milanesi, two of the top scorers in the Great Northeastern Collegiate Hockey Conference. In this game, they showed heart and determination in creating turnovers and capitalizing on them.

The next game was one of the most exciting hockey games I have ever seen. I’m obviously conditioned to high levels of play such as the National Hockey League and the East Coast Hockey League, but this D2 matchup between Scranton and Millersville was just awesome. The heart and pure physicality that the team showed in almost coming back from 2 down thanks to some bad breaks was just so exciting. Goalie Bryan DeMarco was outstanding in that game, making saves I couldn’t believe were happening. Carpenter cut the lead to one, but it just wasn’t enough, in the end. Oddly enough, Scranton fell hard to the eventual champions of the GNCHC, C.W. Post, 7-2. What a ripoff for those who went to see that one.

The team remained extremely positive about next year, though.

The usual cast of characters, minus forwards Bill Griffith, Kevin Cotter, and defenseman Dave Sakers, will be around next year to give it yet another run. With the re-addition of Pete Scottoline to the forward ranks and the prospect of some new rookies and the maturation of freshmen such as Duffey and defenseman Chris Collins, this team will be ready for a great season next year. There will be an abundance of scoring depth through two lines, maybe even three, and the goaltending will still be there. In my opinion, this team is built.

The team was up-and-down throughout the season, with some epic victories such as the 3-2 victory against Kutztown where Evan Miller scored shorthanded with 56 seconds left, and with some tough defeats, such as the 6-5 loss against Bucknell where they grabbed the lead several times, and lost it in the third. Nonetheless, it was such a pleasure to be around these guys throughout the year. The games, the trip to C.W. Post, the interviews, the moments…they were all awesome.

When you think of Millersville Athletics, you usually think of Football, Basketball, or our NCAA ranked men’s Soccer team. But the Millersville Ice Hockey team is here to stay, fighting their way towards a championship.

Here’s to next season. Let’s make it awesome.

Millersville will be having their Alumni Game on April 10th, 2010. The game starts at 5:30pm and will be played at Regency sportsrink. Any alumni interested in playing please e-mail villehockeyalumni@gmail.com

Congratulations to Mike Carpenter, Evan Miller, Dave Sakers, Bryan DeMarco, and Chris Collins on making the GNCHC All-Star team. They all played great especially Bryan DeMarco who had to play the whole game. Good Job to all!

Millersville’s season came to an end on Saturday with a 2-1 loss against Scranton. Junior goalie Bryan DeMarco played an outstanding game. The only goal came from co-captain Mike Carpenter and assisted by Freshman Chris Collins. The whole team played an amazing game. We especially want to thank our seniors on the team Dave Sakers and Bill Griffith for their outstanding hard work and leadership. You guys have done an excellent job. Thank you!

On Friday night, the Millersville Men’s Ice Hockey team played Muhlenberg in the first round of the playoffs. Millersville prevailed with a 4-1 victory. Bryan DeMarco played an amazing game stopping all but one of the Muhlenberg shots. Dave Rothrock started the scoring off for Millersville, the Mike Carpenter netted two goals to give Millersville the 3 – 1 lead. Travis Duffey secured the victory by adding an empty net goal to give Millersville the 4-1 win. Millersville plays Scranton on Saturday in the Semi-finals. Good Luck Ville!!!

With their win last night over Rutgers, Millersville University plays Muhlenberg in the first round of the playoffs. This will be a good test for Millersville because they have always played good games against Muhlenberg. Good Luck guys!!