Blue Hen Ice Hockey 1997-98 Recap

The Blue Hens opened their ECHA title defense with a 5-1 league victory over Duquesne. Greg Barber led the way with two goals. The following afternoon, Matt Gingras scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Division III Scranton. The first road trip of the season was less than successful as Delaware followed a 3-2 loss at Buffalo with a 2-2 tie with Erie College.

The team's road woes continued the following weekend with a 5-3 loss at West Virginia, despite outshooting the Mountaineers 53-29. The following afternoon proved to be the turning point in the Blue Hens' season. Still struggling to find the net, UD found themselves trailing 2-0 to rival Towson with 12 minutes left in the third period. A four goal outburst with goals from Matt Gingras, Brett Huston, Erv Terwilliger, and Jeff Milota gave the Hens a 4-3 victory. Rookie goaltender Bjorn Christiano made 32 saves for his first collegiate win.

Back at home, the team was robbed of a great performance, as Jeff Milota's tying goal in the waning seconds against Arizona State was unexplainably disallowed resulting in a 4-3 loss. UD got goals from Tom Weyermann, Brett Huston and Matt Gingras. The Hens took out their frustrations the following day by pounding Lehigh 10-0. Todd Johnson had the hat trick, Eric Herrmann added two goals, and Brian Cardello scored his first of the season. The Hens continued to roll the following weekend with a pair of wins over Rhode Island by scores of 4-1 and 5-1. Brett Huston had four goals on the weekend and Matt Brush and Ryan Sklar chipped in with one a piece.

The three game win streak came to an end the following weekend with two home losses to Penn State. UD played well both nights with the scores remaining close late into both third periods. Herrmann and Greg Barber had goals for the Hens. The Thanksgiving weekend brought the team its second consecutive Blue Hen Classic Championship. The 6-3 semi-final win over Drexel was highlighted by Steve Kuna's first career goal, and Brooks Barber's first goal of the season. The Hens were paced in the 4-1 Championship victory by the 2 goal 1 assist performance of tournament MVP Greg Barber. Ryan Sklar also added a goal and an assist.

The final weekend of the fall semester brought wins over WCU and Maryland respectively. In the 8-1 win over West Chester, Matt Brush had two goals. In the 11-3 win over Maryland, Jeff Milota had the hat trick, Tom Weyermann had two goals, and Cliff Demmer notched his first career goal.

1998 began with a 5-4 come from behind win over Western Michigan. Alex Elkorek made 41 saves and Jeff Milota notched the game winner with 5:12 remaining in the third period. A 6-3 loss to Michigan-Dearborn was followed by another successful trip to Arizona. The Hens defeated U of A 3-2 the first night on Tim Vafides first goal of the season. The second night UD erased a 4-1 third period deficit to earn a 5-5 tie. Matt Brush scored the equalizer with four seconds left in regulation.

A three game weekend sweep over WCU, Drexel and Lehigh was followed by a 6-2 win over Navy. UD earned their third consecutive trip to the National Tournament with a 7-4 home victory over Arizona. They finished January with a 7-1-1 record.

Following two losses at Penn State, the Hens finished the regular season with a 4-2 win over Towson. Brooks Barber led the way with two goals and one assist.

The Blue Hens then went on to capture their third consecutive ECHA Championship. Brett Huston's overtime goal gave the Hens a 2-1 victory over Rhode Island in the semi's. Ryan Brown made 35 saves and Brooks Barber and Jeff Milota added two goals a piece to give the Hens a 10-2 victory over WVU in the finals.

At Nationals, Delaware skated to a seventh place finish, ending their season with a hard fought 5-3 loss to Illinois. Cliff Demmer, Brett Huston and Eric Herrmann scored for the Hens.