A promising season for the Fordham hockey club came to a crashing halt, as the team lost 5-2 in their semi-final playoff match against Maritime College.

The Rams had their share of chances to take control of the game; they outshot the Privateers 48-22, but just couldn’t find the back of the net. Fordham had beaten Maritime in the teams’ two previous meeting this season by scores of 5-1 and 6-4.

“It’s unfortunate, disappointing, and we just didn’t get the bounces,” Terrence McGinley, Rams defenseman and captain, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’12, said. “We outshot and outplayed them, but they had the luck.”

McGinley added the Rams just didn’t play their best hockey. “We took too many penalties and went down right away,” McGinley said. “We couldn’t play in our system and we had no power play goals. We failed on special teams.” This was shocking for a team that scored 23 power play goals in 64 power play opportunities and led the Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC) with a 36 percent power play conversion rate.

Head Coach Rich Guberti reflected on the stunning end to the season as more than just not fitting. “We made the playoffs five years in a row and have been in the finals two years in a row,” Guberti said. “Losing in the semi-finals just doesn’t feel complete; Our goal was to win it all. We couldn’t score and we just picked the wrong day not to show up.”

Though the Rams felt short of their ultimate goal, Guberti felt there were positives for the team to take away from this season. “We really felt we had a great season,” Guberti said. “We were ranked 13th in the Atlantic by the American Collegiate Hockey Association. It’s the highest Fordham has ever been ranked.”

The national recognition from such a high ranking will only help Fordham with scheduling better opponents. Guberti pointed out that stronger scheduling is exactly what the Rams need to climb to the next level.

“We need to play tougher teams because we need to be pushed more,” Guberti said. “After our game against Fairfield (ranked 12th in the Atlantic) we reeled off six straight wins. We outscored our opponents 48-7; we weren’t challenged and that hurt us coming into the playoffs. For us to get better, we have to play against stronger competition, because with our talent the goal should be to win a championship and move on to regionals and nationals.

The Rams finished the season second in the MCHC, just three points behind eventually champions County College of Morris, with a league record of 13-3. This effort was led by sophomore forward John Fox, FCRH ’14, who finished in the team scoring lead and tied for fourth in the conference with 39 points. While Fox led the team in scoring, senior goalie Craig Hoffman, FCRH ’12, was a rock in net for the Rams. Hoffman finished with an 8-3 record, was third in the conference in save percentage (88.2) and second in goals against average (2.57).

Guberti felt that team chemistry was one of biggest factors that fueled this year’s team. “We really came together as a team,” Guberti said. “The fact that everyone was focused, serious and dedicated to the team was really beneficial.”

McGinley also felt there was a strong bond with this year’s team. “On and off the ice we had a great rapport,” McGinley said. “There was a good mix of older guys and younger guys and we had plenty of character. They are a great group of guys and I’m going to miss them.”

Looking forward to next season, the Rams are hoping to be just as competitive. The team is only losing seniors Hoffman and McGinley to graduation and has great young talent coming in. “I think they can only hope to get better,” McGinley said. “It’s just me and Craig leaving and the freshmen class is big and talented. They can rally around the national ranking because that’s really something to be proud of.”

Guberti feels the Rams are really building something special and have a team that will be definitely be competitive for the next few year years. “Though we didn’t win the championship, we really laid the ground work for the future. We’ve got a team that’s going to be very good in the next couple years.”