Roller hockey prepares for second weekend
Joe Bell
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Sports
In its first weekend back in the rink, the Bulldogs roller hockey team received a rude awakening.
The Bulldogs (1-2-1) hung with their competition the entire weekend until their last game. The Bulldogs suffered an 11-1 mercy-rule defeat at the hand of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, traditionally one of toughest teams in the Great Plains region.
This loss, and the weekend overall, served to highlight the work the team will have to do for success this season.
"It wasn't necessarily the start we would look for, ideally," bench coach Dane Moody said. "We have a history … of starting the season a little bit soft. I saw a lot of that. We weren't quite as prepared as we wanted to be. We didn't have the intensity, we didn't know what to expect out of the other teams, and we kind of got caught by that right away."
Although the results for the team might have been ugly, Moody said there were plenty of reasons to be encouraged by Truman's first weekend out. Senior goalie Joel Hentrich ranked in the top-five goalies in the region in goals-against average (fifth), save percentage (fifth) and shots saved (second). Forwards sophomore Cody Dependahl and senior Truman Patterson led the way on offense, ranking within the top-five in several categories.
But there remain some areas that the team needs to improve upon.
"After the first weekend, I think our two biggest areas of improvement need to be conditioning and probably passing," Dependahl said. "We don't have quite as big a bench as we've had in the past, so we've got fewer subs. So conditioning needs to be a little bit better just so that we're not quite as tired. And the passing, I think that could've been linked with the conditioning.
"Maybe guys were tired, but if those two areas improve, we'll do a lot better than we did the first weekend."
Truman faces a tough slate of games this weekend. The team will play at the University of Missouri Science & Technology Miners, a team that played in Div. I last year. The Bulldogs also will play at home against Div. I powerhouse and 2009 national runner-up Lindenwood University in its final game of the weekend on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (1-2-1) hung with their competition the entire weekend until their last game. The Bulldogs suffered an 11-1 mercy-rule defeat at the hand of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, traditionally one of toughest teams in the Great Plains region.
This loss, and the weekend overall, served to highlight the work the team will have to do for success this season.
"It wasn't necessarily the start we would look for, ideally," bench coach Dane Moody said. "We have a history … of starting the season a little bit soft. I saw a lot of that. We weren't quite as prepared as we wanted to be. We didn't have the intensity, we didn't know what to expect out of the other teams, and we kind of got caught by that right away."
Although the results for the team might have been ugly, Moody said there were plenty of reasons to be encouraged by Truman's first weekend out. Senior goalie Joel Hentrich ranked in the top-five goalies in the region in goals-against average (fifth), save percentage (fifth) and shots saved (second). Forwards sophomore Cody Dependahl and senior Truman Patterson led the way on offense, ranking within the top-five in several categories.
But there remain some areas that the team needs to improve upon.
"After the first weekend, I think our two biggest areas of improvement need to be conditioning and probably passing," Dependahl said. "We don't have quite as big a bench as we've had in the past, so we've got fewer subs. So conditioning needs to be a little bit better just so that we're not quite as tired. And the passing, I think that could've been linked with the conditioning.
"Maybe guys were tired, but if those two areas improve, we'll do a lot better than we did the first weekend."
Truman faces a tough slate of games this weekend. The team will play at the University of Missouri Science & Technology Miners, a team that played in Div. I last year. The Bulldogs also will play at home against Div. I powerhouse and 2009 national runner-up Lindenwood University in its final game of the weekend on Saturday.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 2
Alum
posted 11/05/09 @ 10:15 AM CST
who wrote this? let's do some basic fact-checking:
joel heintrich was a freshman four years ago. he's a senior now (although it is his first season on the "a" team. (Continued…)
Post a Comment