By Chris Trentacosta
The West Virginia Division II Ice Hockey team have improved to 6-4 after their road trip to Virginia, this past weekend. The Mountaineers faced off against Virginia Tech on Friday night, where they lost 4-1. The Mountaineers kept it close until the third, when an empty netter put the game out of reach. They then traveled to Virginia’s capital, Richmond, to face the Spiders on Saturday night. Here, they got back on track with a blowout 8-3 victory. Luke Evangelista netted a hat trick in the Mountaineer victory
“It’s a great feeling coming home after a win like that, especially with the ACC tournament coming up next week,” said Evangelista, “We have a lot of momentum and are excited to make a run this year.”
On the 12th, the team will travel to The Saint James Sports Complex, in Springfield, Virginia, for the Atlantic Coastal Conference tournament. Here they will play three games in three days with their first being against Richmond again. WVU hopes to perform similarly to how they did this past weekend. Evangelista said, “It definitely is a nice feeling, knowing we just played really well against a team, and we get to lead off the tournament against them. Hopefully, a win will get us going for the rest of the weekend.”
Friday’s game will be followed with a matchup against St Joseph’s University on Saturday, and James Madison University, on Sunday. The Mountaineers have been playing a lot of good hockey, as of late, and they hope to have another successful weekend in Virginia. At best WVU can improve to 9-4, which would put them in a great position going into their final two games before Thanksgiving break.
Evangelista and the rest of the team are confident in the way they are playing and are looking forward to this weekend. Hopefully they will perform to their potential and climb up in the standings.
Chris Trentacosta 