Sport: Men’s Hockey

Hometown: Fayetteville, N.Y.

Major: Molecular biology

Why Matt? He scored two goals in the game against Vermont.

1. You scored two goals in a win against Vermont. How were you able to explode for your third career multi-goal game?

I think I was able to put up a multi-goal game because the team started to click in the last two periods which caused Vermont to loosen up on defense. My first goal came off a nice cross ice pass from Nate Sinz and I had a lot of ice in front of me. I kind of blacked out before I shot it, but I was lucky to beat the goalie high glove. My second goal of the night was all set up by Nick Prockow who basically banked a pass off my stick into the net.

2. Alex Evin was between the pipes for the win, rather than sophomore Eric Mihalik. Is there any difference in the team’s game with Evin in, or do both goalies play a similar style?

Al and Eric have pretty different playing styles and they are both playing very well right now. They are competing with each other for starts every night and the team is benefiting from this competition. Any time two guys are competing for a starting job like this, they push each other to be better. I feel really comfortable with either guy between the pipes any given night. 

3. Your two goals were part of four unanswered for the Raiders, all coming in the final two periods. Did it simply take you guys a while to get warmed up?

One problem we have seen a few times this year is getting off to slow starts. It is pretty important to match a team’s intensity in the first few shifts of a game especially on the road because most teams feed off their home crowd. Vermont got off to a very fast start against us, their home rink is one of the best environments in college hockey and they know how to feed off the energy in the building. We didn’t do a great job of matching their energy from the first drop of the puck. After the initial period, we settled down and found our game. Our energy improved as the game went on.  

4. Clarkson and St. Lawrence visit Starr Rink this weekend. What must the team focus on to secure both wins?

We just need to focus on our team defense and our energy level for this weekend. It is really easy to take those two things for granted once you put a few wins together. We have a great group of guys that compete hard every night and if we can stay focused all weekend, I really like our chances. Because league wins are so hard to come by, we know that this weekend is important to reach the top of the standings.