Ville Hockey

Jordan Kuhns
Media Director, Broadcaster

Sometimes it’s hard to believe this may be my last season calling Ville Hockey, but what a season it is to have a sendoff. The Marauders are 7-1-1 in GNCHC play, and life is simply just peachy for the team, coming off one of the toughest ends to a season that any team could ever suffer. Very akin to what the Dallas Stars went through last season as well.

That’s in the past, now. Right now, the Marauders’ wealth of scoring options and solid defensive work have catapulted them past a lot of the favorites in the league for the past several years. Kutztown? No problem, we’ll beat you 4-1. Scranton? We’ll beat you 9-4. How about TCNJ, a team that’s getting national ranking votes? We’ll go ahead and beat you 5-4. There’s a new sheriff in town, and it’s the Millersville Marauders.

At times last season, it was Evan Miller and Mike Carpenter carrying the scoring. Early on, they were cold. It was up to new people and a few other seasoned vets to take control. Kyle Hench scored several monumental goals, including a thrilling game winner against LaSalle in the season opener. After a cold start himself in the point department, Sean Nielsen has turned it on. Zach Juliano continues to develop as a playmaker in his second year with the team. Teams are having trouble checking the new Marauder third line, which was highly apparent in their dominating win over St. Joe’s a few weeks ago.

Senior netminder Bryan DeMarco is having a season to remember, posting a 2.52 goals against average, and a .910 save percentage. The native of West Chester continues to be the solid force between the pipes for this dominating team that looks poised for a huge run in the GNCHC playoffs in February.

Coach Scott Edwards has this team believing. The emotion he presents after losing just goes to show how much he hates losing, and how much he thrives on winning. Thankfully, he hasn’t been too frustrated this season.

Be sure to see these men put on a show against Kutztown on Saturday, November 12 at Lancaster Ice Rink. The puck drops at 5:15 PM.

Jordan Kuhns
VilleHockey.com Writer
Team Broadcaster

The Great Northeast Collegiate Hockey Conference has changed its divisional layout by adding yet another division, and by adding a few more teams to the conference.  The Millersville Marauders were placed in a division with several new teams.  The team has a lot more experience than these other teams, and that’s where forward Mike Carpenter believes they have the edge.

Mike Carpenter shields the puck away from a defender.

“With the incoming of new teams such as Gettysburg, Seton Hall, TCNJ, among others, we feel like we’re still going to be on top,” Carpenter said.

The Marauders finished last season on a sour note, tying Muhlenberg in the last game of the season when a win was necessary to make the playoffs.  Much of this Marauder team will remain untouched from last season, including the stalwart defense core, ready to come back with a vengeance with new players in tow.

“With the return of Sean Nielsen, Chris Collins and Chris Reinhart, three core guys, our top three, they’re gonna be able to teach the young guys the system real fast,” said Carpenter.  ”They [Collins and Nielsen] are pretty offensive minded, and Reinhart, he does the defensive side, nobody really gets past him.”

“I think our defensive core will really, really help us out this year.”

The majority of the scoring last year was carried by Carpenter as well as Evan Miller and the aforementioned Sean Nielsen.  This year, the team has the ability to spread the scoring, including two returning players including last year’s transfer student from UMBC, Kyle Hench, and a second-year player in Mike Grass.

Kyle Hench battles in front of the net vs. Scranton.

Mike Grass skates in full stride.

“A guy who’s going to go out there and work hard every day, grind it out is Mike Grass.  He’s just gonna be in there, and his goals will come,” Carpenter said.  ”He’s not gonna get pretty goals, but hey, if the puck goes into the net, the puck goes in the net.”

Carpenter predicts Hench, who had 18 points last season, will start on one of the top two lines, and Grass, with 8 points last season, may be on the third line.  Grass’ impact though, according to Carpenter, will come in the way of checking the opponent’s top lines and being ready whenever he’s called upon.

A lot of the Marauders’ recent success after being a weaker squad has come in the form of recruiting.  Recruiting became a top priority right alongside winning.

“Our recruiter, Tom Hench, has done a huge job this year.  He’s been amazing.”  Carpenter said.  ”We go to showcases and talk to kids who we think will be a good fit for us.  We’re getting kids from Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, we’re trying to get kids from all over.”

“Millersville ice hockey is not a scrub team anymore.  We’re for real. This is real college hockey.  We go out and play good teams, and we want to win a championship.  Recruiting is going to be a big part of that.”

“I believe this year we have a good group of rookies.  This year is just going to build on that.” Carpenter concluded.  ”The recruitment style that Tom Hench has done has been absolutely amazing for this club.”

The season starts in less than a month, with an outstanding majority of the games on the road throughout the season.  Carpenter and the Marauders feel they are ready for a bonafide run to the GNCHC championship, as well as ACHA regionals and perhaps nationals.  He stressed that this is the last chance for a lot of the departing seniors this year.

The pieces are in place.

—————————-

Stay tuned to VilleHockey.com for the latest on your Marauders!  Follow the team on Twitter (@MUIceHockey), or the team broadcaster Jordan Kuhns (@jckuhns).  Tune in to select future Millersville hockey games at justintv.com/villehockey and request the viewing password.  Get all the of the game highlights and postgame reaction here on the website, or at youtube.com/millersvillehockey!

The team huddles at practice on September 17. (photo courtesy Jordan Kuhns)

Jordan Kuhns
VilleHockey.com Webmaster
Team Broadcaster

The mantra around the locker room is one that is echoed by many.

“This is our year.”

The Millersville Marauders ended their season in defeat to the Scranton Huskies in a well-fought game that saw them lose by a score of 2-1.  However, during the season, elements of their game were remarkably inconsistent, and the team saw their record jump up and down until they finally grabbed the final playoff spot in the Great Northeast Collegiate Hockey Conference.

The leadership core of the Marauders wanted more, so they went with experience: they hired Scott Edwards as their new head coach.

Edwards has been around the block.  He has been involved with the game of hockey for 40 years as a coach and referee at the collegiate level.  In his analysis, he feels as if the team’s lofty expectations are real and attainable.

“I’m very optimistic,” said Edwards of the upcoming season.  “We have a really good bunch of guys coming in that are really meshing already, playing well together.”

This upcoming season, there are significantly more rookies and new players on the team than in years’ past, but coach Edwards does not see that to be an issue.

“We definitely have some really solid transfer students,” said Edwards.  “The freshmen have a good head on their shoulders, they’re aware of the ice, and they’re really fitting in.”

Alternate captain Mike Carpenter agreed.

“The new guys are really impressive,” said Carpenter.  “Our defense is so much better and deeper than last year, and we’re going to have three, four solid offensive lines to put out there.”

Last year, it seemed as if scoring was very top-heavy, with co-captains Evan Miller and Mike Carpenter taking a lot of the goal scoring duty.  But this year, coach Edwards believes differently.

“We’re going to probably have around 23 to 27 committed and talented players coming in,” said Edwards.  “The talent is really high.”

“We have a heavy load of new players, and they’re meshing, and I’m really pleased all around,” echoed Edwards

With a new coach comes a new vision.  The old, one-dimensional attack of past years is gone.  In comes a more focused and balanced hockey attack plan with an experienced coach at the helm.

“We’re really concentrating on our breakout, our neutral zone, and our offensive zone play,” said Edwards.  “I’m a very aggressive coach, not a laid-back type.  So there’s going to be a lot of pressure.”

But there’s one thing that Edwards looks for that’s no X-and-O strategy.

“The most important thing on the whole team is we need to be a family, we need to back each other up and we’re going to play smart hockey.”

So with this excitement comes the beginning of a new season.  Carpenter believes that with the proper mindset, this team could potentially do something special.

“C.W. Post better look out,” Carpenter said of the GNCHC champions of last year.  “Because if we do things right, we can be unstoppable.”

Those words will be put to the test starting Friday the 24th, with the opener of a home-and-home against Rider University.

————-

For up to date information, follow the team on Twitter at  http://twitter.com/MUIceHockey!

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.