As second-year defenseman Lev Belopolsky attempted to skate out of his third of the ice, he watched the puck he had just cleared. Stopping just below the blue line dividing American University’s third of the ice with the neutral zone, he saw a teammate mishandle the puck, giving it back to the University of Maryland Terrapins without a fight. Frustrated, Belopolsky put his elbows on his knees and released an exasperated exploitative loud enough that the stand crowded with Maryland fans could hear.
American would go on to lose 14-2 on Oct 12.
If there was one word to describe this game, it would be frustrating. From the warm-ups, to the locker room exit, the characteristics of frustration could be seen: heads down, tense conversations between teammates and short conversations with friends of the players. The frustration hung in the air as they prepared for the long drive home.
Former player and now head coach Connor Cain said that the performance was disappointing but that he had other concerns.
“Feels like there’s a little bit of contentedness, and there’s not a desire to win on the team right now,” Cain said. “Having scores like this two weeks in a row sucks.”
The tension between team captain Miles Frasca and Beloposky was evident after the game. Frasca was dressed in a suit instead of a hockey jersey after being ejected from the Eagles' first game against William and Mary College. When asked by The Eagle what led to his suspension, Frasca said he was ejected for shutting the door to the penalty box too hard after receiving a game misconduct penalty.
The Eagles were constantly entrapped in their third of the ice throughout the night. The Terrapins thwarted attempts to clear the puck onto open ice. The Eagles’ offense also struggled to get started, with only 2 goals scored after multiple breakaway chances. Freshman forward Jack Power scored American’s first goal at 16:48 in the second period. Junior center Danny Noone scored American’s second and final goal of the night at 1:40 in the second period.
With this loss, the Eagles fell to 0-2; however, the defense played well in some areas, including shots on goal and getting bodies in front of the net. Belopolsky made the best block of the night by kicking out his right heel and deflecting a shot that barely anyone in the stands could track to make an iconic stop and kill the Terrapins’ momentum. With this, Cain said the main focus of practice will be to work on communication and build cohesion as a team.
“I think our defensive zone coverage was a lot better,” Cain said. “I think, as a whole team, we showed progress in most areas.”
The Terrapins did not have a hard time throughout the game.
Penalty minutes throughout this game were scarce as the Eagles and the Terrapins only had four minutes of penalty time. In past years, a foul followed by a goal before the play was blown dead would have resulted in the player who committed that foul still serving time in the penalty box. This was changed to be more forgiving this year by the NCAA, preventing American from serving two more penalties throughout the game. However, frustration was found in one of the fouls.
Noone's irritation boiled over at the five-minute mark in the third. Noone and a Maryland player got into a pushing match that eventually led to a linesman separating both. A two-minute minor penalty was given to both of them. This never stopped them, and both Noone and the Maryland player were chirping at each other while sitting in the box.
Due to impressive defense, the Eagles prevented an even more lopsided score.
Following the Eagles’ 14-2 loss, they play their next game on Nov. 16 against Montgomery Community College.
Correction: A previous version of this article referred to the team’s captain as Miles Fraska. It has been updated to correct the spelling of the captain’s name, Miles Frasca.
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Delaney Hoke and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Emma Brown, Sabine Kanter-Huchting and Nicole Kariuki.
