Coming hot on the heels of a motivated performance last weekend after a promotion to ACHA Division I, the NYU hockey team hoped to continue on their 9-1 hot streak on Saturday in Albany against Siena College.

The game was a high-scoring affair, beginning on the tail end of a 4-on-4 that turned into an NYU penalty kill, upon which Siena capitalized to put the opposing team up by one. NYU got a 10-minute misconduct before going down by another. The Violets managed to go into the second with the Siena lead cut in half when sophomore forward John Kowalewski scored with 46 seconds left in the first.

The second got off to a contentious start with each team getting handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct. A Siena slashing call shortly after made the difference as NYU tied the game at two thanks to freshman forward Brandon Ritchey.

Siena proved a formidable foe as it got back in front at 5:08. Siena found itself in the driver’s seat once again as its players were gifted power play after power play, until late in the first when NYU finally tied things up at even strength at 17:53, this one coming again from Ritchey. Siena, not going down without a fight, came back and got the 4-3 goal before the second intermission.

The back and forth action kept going in the third, as NYU matched Siena at four 3:11 into the third on a freshman forward Kohl Donovan goal. But of course, this game was not one where the score stayed at one point for long, and Siena answered at 6:48. Sophomore forward Keaton Baum got the 5-5 goal later on in the third, giving NYU the chance to earn this one back in overtime.

It was junior forward Michael Conslato who finally tipped the scale, earning NYU’s sixth goal of the night with a 1:09 on the clock in 3-on-3 overtime. Head Coach Chris Cosentino acknowledged that the game wasn’t their top showing on the season but gave them the opportunity to overcome adversity in a season that has largely been smooth sailing.

“Siena gave us a great battle last night,” Cosentino said. “I liked the way we stuck with it to find a way to win. It was not our best game, but a great test for our guys.”

Sunday afternoon, NYU traveled over to Troy to play Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, hoping to keep that hot streak going.

The Violets got on the board 4:04 in on a goal from junior forward Steven Esposito to start things off on the right skate. The score stood still until 5:48 into period two when RPI knotted things at one. The rest of the frame was plagued by penalties, including 5-on-3 chances for both teams. NYU capitalized on theirs when Esposito once again scored, this one coming with just one second left in the period. And they still had a man advantage to carry over into the third.

RPI managed to kill the penalty they started the third with, but got caught tripping up an NYU guy, putting them down once again. Senior defenseman Evan Ripley scored on the power play to give the Violets a 3-1 lead. Half a minute later, Baum took the game to near-blowout territory as he earned the Violets’ fourth. Ripley became the second multi-goal scorer on the night as he got the fifth tally at 7:11.

Junior defenseman Charles Arsenescu got tossed to the box with exactly two minutes left in the game, opening things up for RPI to get a second goal with two seconds left in the game, but the Violets still ran away with it, 5-2. They now sit 11-1 on the season.

Ritchey, who scored a pair against Siena, thought this weekend was huge for the Violets, but that there is still more that can
be done.

“I mean, any time you go on the road and come back with two wins, it’s a big momentum builder for the team,” Ritchey said. “We still feel that we are just scratching the surface of how good we can be, but we hope to carry this momentum into our game Friday night in front of our home crowd vs. RPI.”

Cosentino was pleased with how NYU matched RPI’s intensity on the ice.

“RPI was another good test, and they made us work for our chances,” Cosentino said. “Our power play did a great job today, and I was happy with our complete level after a real physical game last night.”

The Violets will be back home at the Chelsea Piers Sky Rink this Friday night as they take on RPI again. They’ll then head up to Poughkeepsie on Saturday to play Marist.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Nov. 14 print edition. Email Rachel Ruecker at [email protected].