Dayton, OH - 2/2/11

Dayton hockey has just received news that the games against Kennesaw State University this weekend have been cancelled. Kennesaw State University made a scheduling error and although they are not playing any games this weekend, they have cited transportation issues in getting to Dayton from Kennesaw, GA in such a short time.

UD hockey is 16-4-0-1 on the year at the moment and first in the TSCHL. UD will instead turn to the three remaining TSCHL games that will be instrumental in clinching the number one seed and a bye in the playoffs. Dayton will play University of Pittsburgh, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and West Virginia University next weekend in pursuit of the second TSCHL regular season champions in the two years since the league has been created.

Dayton, OH - 1/2/11

Written by- Jim Davis - Hockeyyall.com

To the consternation of seven of the two-year-old circuit’s nine teams, the race for first-place in the Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League is threatening to duplicate last season’s inaugural chase.

Perched atop the league standings as the semester break winds down are Dayton and Pittsburgh, with the Flyers holding a one-point lead over the Panthers.

TSCHL Standings

Team            Record   Pts.
Dayton            7-2-0-0    14
Pittsburgh      6-1-0-1     13
Toledo            6-5-0-0    12
Akron             4-2-0-2    10
Cincinnati      4-2-0-1      9
W. Virginia    4-5-0-1      9
Ohio                3-2-0-0    6
Wright St.       2-8-0-0    4
Indiana-Pa.   2-7-0-0     4

The Flyers and Panthers finished the 2010-11 regular season 1-2 and went on to reach the final of the first TSCHL Playoffs Tournament, won 3-2 by Dayton.

There’s no reason to believe either of the clubs will falter significantly before their second meeting of the season, on Feb. 10. The winner of that game will likely earn the top seed in this season’s playoffs.

Pittsburgh owns the lone head-to-head victory, having grounded the Flyers 4-0 behind goalie Josh Howell’s 35 saves on Oct. 23.

“I think that Pitt is in the driver’s seat,” said Dayton head coach Barry Conway. “They have a very good team and very good goaltending, as their record reflects.”

Pitt, 12-5-0-0 overall and at No. 12 one of only two TSCHL teams among the top 15 ranked squads in the ACHA’s Southeast Region, enjoys a triumvirate of outstanding young goaltenders in freshmen Howell and Jimmy Salfiti and sophomore Oscar Prom.

Howell sports a 2.79 goals against average and a 0.92 save percentage in six games. Salfiti’s GAA in four games is 2.23 and his save percentage is 0.89. Prom also has played four games, with slightly higher stats.

Head coach Joe Rodella, last season’s TSCHL coach of the year, relies on William Pearl and Stephen Switucha to spark the Panthers in the offensive end.

Pearl tops the Panthers with eight goals and 12 assists in 14 games, according to the ACHA. Switucha has scored a team-high 10 goals and has been credited with six assists.

Both Pitt and Dayton have seven league games remaining. Each TSCHL team must play the other eight teams twice, with the top six teams at the end of regular season qualifying for the playoffs.

Dayton, 12-4-0-1 overall and ranked No. 15, has already defeated third-place Toledo twice and has one game remaining with fourth-place Akron, on Jan. 20.

Led by Eric Brown’s 11 goals in 13 games and Greyson Feichtinger’s 18 points, the Flyers got the attention of Ohio University head coach Phil Oberlin, whose Bobcats lost to Dayton twice. Said Oberlin, “I was impressed by Dayton’s overall game. Their defense moved the puck well and the power play was very well run.”

Of the other seven TSCHL teams, Akron, Cincinnati and Ohio are in the best positions from which to launch a run at Dayton and Pitt.

The Zips are 4-2-0-2 in the league, including a 5-4 shootout victory over Pitt, and have eight TSCHL games remaining, including a Jan. 20 game with Dayton and a Jan. 28 match-up with the Panthers.

Cincinnati sits in fifth place with a 4-2-0-1 record and nine league games remaining on its schedule, including two with Dayton and one against Pittsburgh.

With 11 league games to play, 3-2-0-0 Ohio has plenty of room in which to work its way up the standings and challenge the Flyers and Panthers.

Thus far, the Bobcats have fallen short of their own expectations. “I believe we should be at least 4-1-0-0, if not 5-0-0-0 so far,” said Phil Oberlin, Ohio’s head coach.

“But everyone that we have played so far has been well-coached and it’s been pretty even competition so far.”

Southeast Confererence:

1. FGCU (11) 9pts
2. UMBC 21pts
3. Penn St 26pts
4. VT 36pts
5. Miami 54pts
6. Liberty 56pts
7. Maryland 69pts
8. Rider 73pts
9. Kennesaw 75pts
10. Kentucky 94pts
11. Rowan 96pts
12. Pitt 109pts
13. Dayton 116pts
14. Temple 125pts
15. Ohio St 128pts

Also Recieving votes: Toledo

This past weekend Dayton again took on cross-town rival Wright State University in the second weekend of TSCHL games.  The first meeting between the teams resulted in an 8 goal win for Dayton. The Flyers won both games to win the Gem City Cup once again in the best of three series.

On Friday UD had the home bench in a game that turned out to be much closer than anyone expected. The Flyers won the game 2-1 to extend its win streak to 4. UD and Wright St. traded penalties back and forth until John Jost lit the lamp for the Flyers at 15:46 in the first period. The game turned chippy quickly as Wright St. and UD combined for 9 penalties in the first, including two against Dayton in the last minute that set up a Wright St. 5 on 3 to start the second.

The Raiders quickly cashed in on the 5 on 3 scoring on a centering pass from behind the net 48 seconds into the second period just as the first of the two penalties expired.  The Flyers soon gained the lead again off a top shelf shot by Andrew Freund from the right circle. The game continued to spiral into a special teams show as the officials tried to stem the physical action between the two rivals.  At 10:45 in the second assistant-captain John Lucas got in a scrum with a Raider defenseman in front of the Raider net. While Lucas was tied up Raider goalie McClure joined in the fray throwing punches at Lucas which were quickly returned.  Both McClure and Lucas were ejected from the game and given fighting penalties. The Flyers peppered the new goaltender for the Raiders through the rest of the second period but could not capitalize as the Flyers missed several quality scoring chances and hit four posts.

The Flyers entered the third period looking to extend its lead and finish the game but continued to have trouble scoring as the penalties piled up. A 16 penalty third period with 10 going against the Flyers put the Raiders on the attack. Superb defense enabled to Flyers to close out the last 5 minutes of the third, being on the penalty-kill the entire time including a 5 on 3 to end the game. Goaltender Justin Corvino got the win in a 30 save effort.

On Saturday the Flyers extended their undefeated season by again beating the Raiders in a 7-1 match. In contrast to the Friday game the Flyers had little trouble capitalizing on their chances on Saturday putting up 7 unanswered goals following an early Wright St. power-play goal. The game was again crippled with penalties as the animosity from the previous night continued to boil over. Flyer Corey Pryor got into a scrap with a Raider player following a big hit on the Raider forward.  Both players were DQ’d after the fight. Kyle Freuk  got the win in net with goals by Donny Deroia , Eric Brown, Greyson Feichtinger, Tyler Preston, and Mike Shimizu.

The Flyers take on IUP, West Virginia and Pitt next weekend on the first road trip of the season. Follow @Dayton_Hockey for live game updates.

Jim Davis - Hockeyyall.com

Dayton led 2-0 after 20 minutes and stretched its advantage to 8-2 after two periods en route to a 9-4 win at Toledo. It was the second Flyers win over the Rockets this weekend as Dayton began its pursuit of a second consecutive Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League regular-season championship.

Jim Davis - Hockeyyall.com

When the Dayton Flyers take the ice against the Toledo Rockets Friday night, they will be playing not only for a win but also for bragging rights in their head coach’s household.

“This weekend’s games with Toledo have a little more meaning since my son (Daniel, a defenseman) is the captain of Toledo and my wife (Rose Ann) and daughter (Kristin) are rooting for him and Toledo,” said Dayton coach Barry Conway.

If that’s not enough to tighten the screws on Conway and the Flyers, they will be launching their defense of the 2010-11 Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League regular-season title when they face the Rockets.

The Flyers will get an idea of how successful that quest might be in the first month of their season, which begins with seven consecutive TSCHL games. The first two are with the Rockets, on Friday night in Toledo and the next night in Dayton.

Dayton, 15-13-1 overall last season, was 12-1-1 in league games during the regular season, then defeated Pittsburgh in overtime to add the DII circuit’s 2011 playoff championship.

The 2010-11 season was the eight-team TSCHL’s first. The other five teams are Akron, Cincinnati, Indiana-Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wright State.

Against Toledo, head coach Conway will rely on last season’s top four scorers to ignite the Flyers’ offense.

Nick Fosheim led the team with 38 points on 22 goals and 16 assists. Donny Deroia, John Lucas and Andrew Jolley contributed 31, 29 and 25 points respectively.

Returning in goal is veteran Justin Corvino, who had a 0.85 goals against average in 19 games. Anchoring the blue line corps are Luke Stansfield and Matt Henry.

“I think we have improved a little over last season’s team,” Conway said. “We have three new freshmen who made the team, plus with so many returning players, it should make us better.”

Dayton lost only two players who were on its 2010-11 roster to graduation.

“From what I have heard, most teams did not lose very many players, and depending on what players they picked up, it could be a very competitive league,” he said.

Toledo, 12-8-0 last season, stopped Robert Morris twice last weekend, 8-5 and 7-2, in the Rockets’ first two games.

Head coach Matt Bollinger thinks his team’s depth will enable it to improve on its 2010-11 record and fifth-place finish in the TSCHL.

“We have 28 players, 15 of which are returnees, and our 13 rookies have already been challenging for serious playing time,” Bollinger told HockeyYall.com. “Top to bottom, we have a lot more talent, especially with our forwards and in net . . .

“On Friday, what I thought would be our top line went out and put up five of our eight goals. But on Saturday, I put in six players who didn’t dress for Friday’s game, and had an all-freshman line step up and they put in five of our seven goals.”

Bollinger came away from Friday’s come-from-behind win impressed with his players’ resilience. Down 4-1 in the first period, the Rockets pulled even with Robert Morris after 40 minutes and shut down the Colonials the rest of the way.

“Honestly, I can’t think of a better way to start off the year,” he said. “You go out on the road, battle through some adversity and come back home with two wins.”

Four other TSCHL teams will see their first action this weekend, all in non-league games: Akron at Kentucky, Wright State vs. Miami (Ohio) of the Great Midwest Hockey League, West Virginia at Robert Morris and Cincinnati vs. Saint Louis University.

IU-P won’t open its season until next weekend, when it hits the road for TSCHL games with Toledo and Akron.

Dayton (OH) - Sept. 13, 2011

After three days of tryouts the coaches along with the input of the captains have selected the roster for this years team. Along with many returning players eight freshmen made the team. Congratulations to the players that made it, and we will see you at practice on Wednesday.

1 Anton, Brett
2 Bianco, Brandon
3 Brown, Eric
4 Corvino, Justin
5 Davie, Ryan
6 DeRoia, David
7 DeRoia, Donny
8 Feichtinger, Greyson
9 Foshseim, Nick
10 Freuck, Kyle
11 Fruend, Andrew
12 Henry, Matt
13 Jolley, Drew
14 Jost, John
15 Lang, Travis
16 Lucas, John
17 Manios, Jordan
18 Mooney, David
19 Mueller, Dan
20 Nowak, David
21 Preston, David
22 Pryor, Cory
23 Reed, David
24 Shimizu, Mike
25 Spellman, CJ
26 Stanfield, Luke
27 Svedin, Lucas
28 Woomer, Michael
29 Zigulich, Dale

Dayton (OH) – August 18, 2011

Info session - Recplex meeting room - Sept. 1st, 5:30 PM

Welcome Skate

• Tue Sept.6, 7:40 - 9 PM

Tryouts

• Wed Sept 7, 9:40-11 PM
• Mon Sept 12, 9:40-11 PM

Practice

• Wed Sept 14, 9:40-11 PM
• Thur Sept 15, 8:40-10 PM
• Mon Sept 19, 9:40- 11 PM
• Wed Sept 21, 9:40-11 PM

First Game

• Sat Sept 24, 5:30 PM

Dayton (OH) – March 13, 2011

The Dayton Flyers have completed the season by winning both of its games in the TSCHL playoffs, against Indiana U. of Pennsylvania and University of Pittsburgh in the final. The Flyers received a bye in the first round after earning the number one seed for the regular season. They then played IUP in the semi-final game winning 3-2 with a late third period goal. The final was an exciting back and forth game against Pitt which had the Flyers down 2-0 after one period and tied 2-2 after two. Regulation wasn't enough to decide the game so continuous four on four sudden death overtime was played. Andrew Freund scored the overtime game winner off a rebound to win the championship. In related news, Andrew Freund recieved playoff MVP.

Three Dayton players also received honors for making the league all conference team, the lineups are as follows.

Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League All Conference Team

First Team
Forward      Will Pearl, University of Pittsburgh
Forward      Nick Foeshiem, University of Dayton
Forward      Stephen Switucha, University of Pittsburgh
Defense      Tom Wilson, University of Pittsburgh
Defense      Cameron Scherer, Wright State University
Goalie        Gordon Collins, University of Pittsburgh

Second Team
Forward      Tony Espinosa, University of Toledo
Forward      Dan Hatfield, Wright State University
Forward      Ryan Mullen, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Defense      Dan Conway, University of Toledo
Defense      Cam Heilbrann, University of Dayton
Goalie        Justin Corvino, University of Dayton

Rookie of the Year
Chris Santangelo, University of Pittsburgh

Coach of the Year
Joe Rodella, University of Pittsburgh

Playoff MVP
Andrew Freund, University of Dayton

Dayton (OH) – Febuary 13, 2011

The Dayton Flyers have clinched the number one seed in the TSCHL this weekend with a three game sweep of Indiana U. of Pennsylvania, West Virginia University and University of Pittsburgh. Playoffs will begin Friday March 4, with Dayton receiving a bye in the first round.

Rule changes in effect for this season are significant

NCAA/ACHA rule changes