Say Cheese!
A few weeks ago UB was ranked #23 in the ACHA and had a huge lead in the ECHL. Then the team spotted Canton six goals in the second half of a two game series. UB went on to lose that game 7-3 and continued the slid by dropping the next four. UB is now #30 in the computer rankings and has fallen six points behind Robert Morris University (and one point behind Canton) in the EHCL.
1) Who does UB have to watch out for?
2) How good are their Goalies?
3) How are they on the Power play?
4) How are they Short Handed?
A few weeks ago UB was ranked #23 in the ACHA and had a huge lead in the ECHL. Then the team spotted Canton six goals in the second half of a two game series. UB went on to lose that game 7-3 and continued the slid by dropping the next four. UB is now #30 in the computer rankings and has fallen six points behind Robert Morris University (and one point behind Canton) in the EHCL.
The weekend UB has every chance to end their skid when they play bottom feeding EHCL teams Rochester (Friday) and RIT (Saturday).
| Team | Games | Wins | Loss | OT/SO | Points |
| Robert Morris (PA) | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 18 |
| Canton | 13 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13 |
| Buffalo | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 12 |
| Niagara | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 11 |
| Mercyhurst | 17 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 10 |
| Syracuse | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
| Rochester | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| RIT | 18 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 4 |
Official ECHL Standing 11/12/2009
Between the two teams 26 games have been played and they have managed only four wins. If UB takes care of Business this weekend they could pass Canton and really cut the gap on Robert Morris (RM has difficult challenge tomorrow when they play Minot).
UB Should end up within four points of the Pirates (and a game in hand) by the time the weekend is over. But for the Bulls to win two, even over RU and RIT they need to fix whatever is ailing their offense. The team had been scoring more than five goals a game during the first seven games of the season but have fallen into a rut for the past five games (2.6 goals per game).
So how does our opposition this weekend look?
1) Who does UB have to watch out for?
Rochester: Ryan Williamson is the big goal scoring threat, but he is complimented nicely by Mike Collins. Usually when Williamson Scores a goal (and he has 8 in as many games) Collins is somewhere to be found (Collins has 8 assist in nine games)
RIT: Brian Kugler is the most potent Offensive Threat the tigers have (especially on the power play), aside form Kugler RIT has nobody over a half point per game.
2) How good are their Goalies?
Rochester: Their 'leading' goal tender Mark Ingram is giving up more than five and a half goals per game. In his last outing he was shelled for twelve goals by Robert Morris.
RIT: Brian Jascur looked respectable in his last outing against Cortland (a team that Miller got shelled against the night before). He is giving up about five goals a game. RIT has has tried four different goalies through the season and none of them have been better than four and a half goals per game so a lot is going to depend on who they try out against UB.
3) How are they on the Power play?
Rochester: Rochester has been decent in short handed situations, really the one way I see RU taking it to Buffalo is if the Bulls end up in penalty trouble. In the past five games 4 of their ten goals have been with the man advantage.
RIT: Anemic, RIT is 8/39 on the power play over the last five games of October but 4 of those goals came when Robert Morris gave them 17 chances last week. To top it off they have given up two short handed goals in their past five games.
4) How are they Short Handed?
Rochester: This is probably the biggest strength that Rochester has, when they are down a man they give up a goal only about one out of ten times. As bad as Rochester looks on paper they are excellent when someone is in the box (from either team).
RIT: They are giving up a goal about one in every three times they find themselves short handed. Giving up 30% in short handed situations speaks for itself.
5) What to expect form the game?
Rochester: If UB can stay out of trouble in terms of penalties they should have a good chance of taking this game, right now the Bulls have a game in hand and they cant waste this opportunity
RIT: Yes yes, any given game anything can happen, but so long as UB is not on Ambien for this game they should pull it off. RIT has not one facet of their team that is intimidating this season.
UB should sweep their way through Smugtown this weekend, a cupcake or two could be just what the doctor ordered.