VU Hockey Celebrates Birthdays With Wins Over Louisville

After a work- and, if we’re being honest, loss-induced hiatus from game recapping (it was just too painful to relive the horrors of the club’s second trip to Atlanta which saw Vanderbilt lose 9-5 to Florida and 6-5 to Georgia), the VU hockey club writing staff is back in action and happy to report that the Commodores locked up their seventh and eighth wins of the season this past weekend, both versus Louisville, to improve to 8-2. Before spirited home crowds at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville, TN, the club surmounted both on- and off-ice obstacles leading up to and through the weekend to secure a 6-2 win Friday and an 8-4 win Saturday versus its DII neighbor from the North.

Happy birthdays to senior Matt Kaminsky, junior Stephen Mozur, and sophomore Mike Gangemi

Pulling Together The Line-Up

A hard-working weekend started two days prior to Friday when the Commodores found themselves cobbling together their line-up amidst a handful of variables, the biggest being fraternity commitments. “Several of the boys were closing out pledging,” said senior captain Matt Kaminsky who, as a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, is sympathetic to the dilemma of juggling Greek life with hockey. “It’s part of our club’s culture and charter to support guys enjoying all sorts of clubs and experiences at Vandy. Recognizing this, we need players to step up when others are out of the line-up, in some cases for the first time in a specific position or on a certain line, and deliver the ‘W.’ Fortunately, our boys did just that with two solid performances.”

Leading the charge on Friday was a seemingly possessed sophomore winger Kyle Stachowiak. Prior to the weekend, “Gadget” (as fans and teammates call him) had logged a relatively quiet start to the season per his standards (i.e., his freshman campaign where he scored seven goals). That all changed Friday when Gadget netted two goals including the eventual game winner.

“He had another gear on Friday,” said head coach Thomas Bernstein. “It wasn’t just that he was faster than he normally is, which he was. Kyle was also extremely strong on the puck. They just couldn’t knock him off his game, whether he was crashing the net, cutting through the zone, or setting up his line-mates.”

Asked what sparked the breakout performance, Stachowiak offered a few theories. “I ate two spicy black bean burgers for dinner prior to the skate which delivered 34% of my daily protein requirement.” One of two vegetarians on the team, Stachowiak concluded that “this intense nourishment, combined with a last-minute viewing of the 1999 hockey classic ‘Mystery, Alaska’ starring Russell Crowe, just amped my freak meter up to 11. I was ready to rock.”

Rosenfield Wired and a “Geno” for Reno

Saturday’s game followed a similar script compared to Friday as the Cardinals jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. The Commodores recaptured the momentum on the shoulders of sophomore forward Eliot Rosenfield who rifled home his fourth goal of the year.

“That first goal they scored was a real shot to the jaw,” said Rosenfield. “We didn’t panic though, our guys pulled together and kept the pressure on for the full 60 minutes. That was a good hockey team we played out there so I think we can all be proud of the effort.”

Also leading the charge was first year law student and team gloomy gus Cory Reno. All totaled on the weekend, Reno tallied two “genos” and four “apples” for a total of six “pintos.” Asked to evaluate his performance, Reno answered with his trademark response, “Ehh.” He elaborated, “I kinda sucked. But not as much as the last few weeks.” Coach Bernstein disagreed with Reno’s personal assessment stating, “I gauge Cory’s play by the number of times I see him smile on the bench. I know it’s a good game when his number of smiles top our total goals scored, and I know it’s a really good game when they exceed our number of penalty minutes. On Saturday, Cory’s cheeriness was off the charts. Infectious positivity.”

Back In Action This Weekend

The Frozen Commodores will take the ice once again this weekend versus a winless Georgia State Panthers squad that is laboring through its program’s inaugural season. The teams will face-off at the Centennial Sportsplex at 10:15pm on Friday and 7:00pm on Saturday. Admission will be free for students and kids under 18 and $3 for adults. We hope to see you at the rink for a weekend of terrific hockey action as Vandy goes for double-digit wins in 2011/12!

Game Information
Date & Time: Friday, November 4th, 2011, at 10:15pm CT
Location: Centennial Sportsplex – Nashville, TN
Attendance: 140

1 2 3 F &#9733
Brenden Oliver (G): 37 saves
VU 4 1 1 6 &#9733&#9733
Kyle Stachowiak (LW): 2 goals
UL 1 0 1 2 &#9733&#9733&#9733
Ryan Blatt (D): Defensive standout
First Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
VU: UL:
18:00 UL
Kuypers – Gettelfinger
0 1
8:23 VU
Reno (3) – Zauderer, McCann
1 1
8:02 VU
Zauderer (4) – McCann, Reno
2 1
7:30 VU
Stachowiak (1) – Trepanier
3 1
5:42 VU
Kaminsky (8) – Grisko
4 1
Second Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
VU: UL:
15:27 VU
McLaughlin (6) – Grisko
5 1
Third Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
VU: UL:
16:00 VU
Stachowiak (2) – Leeser
6 1
9:03 UL
Van Holtz – Devido, Martinell
6 2

Game Information
Date & Time: Saturday, November 5th, 2011, at 8:15pm CT
Location: Centennial Sportsplex – Nashville, TN
Attendance: 60

1 2 3 F &#9733
Mike Gangemi (G): 42 saves
VU 2 3 3 8 &#9733&#9733
Eliot Rosenfield (RW): 2 goals
UL 1 2 1 4 &#9733&#9733&#9733
Cory Reno (RW): 1 goal, 3 assists
First Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
VU: UL:
7:29 UL
Shacklette – Swiergosz
0 1
3:17 VU
Rosenfield (4) – Weekes, Stachowiak
1 1
0:30 VU
Johnston (1) – Leeser
2 1
Second Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
VU: UL:
19:10 UL
Valvano – Van Holtz
2 2
17:50 VU
Weekes (2) – Reno
3 2
15:40 VU
Reno (4) – Kaminsky, McCann
4 2
0:30 UL
Boyce – Van Holtz
4 3
0:04 VU
Rosenfield (5) – Trepanier, Weekes
5 3
Third Period Scoring Summary
Time: Team:
Scoring Detail:
VU: UL:
12:55 VU
Leeser (4) – Abelman, Johnston
6 3
11:01 VU
Kaminsky (9) – Reno
7 3
3:19 VU
McCann (4) – Kaminsky, Reno
8 3
0:21 UL
Swiergosz – Martinell
8 4



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