Yeshiva Ice Hockey Team Demolishes Brandeis

Colt 45s Secure Lead in Northeast Rivalry

By Eric Taub and Yair Sturm

The fifteen-member Yeshiva ice hockey team spent last weekend in Brandeis preparing for their Saturday night game, the fourth in a series between the two schools.  The rivalry has been heating up ever since the Yeshiva Colt 45s defeated the Brandeis Judges 3-2 in Boston two years ago.  The schools split the next two meetings, both intense and exciting games decided by two goals or less in the final minutes of playing time.

Although receiving little attention at Yeshiva, Saturday night’s game was heavily promoted in Brandeis for over a month.  The school newspaper devoted a full page to hyping the Yeshiva-Brandeis rivalry in its previous issue.  Additionally, flyers for the event littered the campus for days.  On Saturday night, about three hundred Brandeis fans packed into Reilly Rink in Brookline MA with faces painted in school colors and specially-printed foam fingers to cheer on their Judges. The only fans doing any cheering that night, however, were the Colt 45s as they demolished the Judges by the score of 10-1.

The verdict was handed down rather quickly as Yeshiva jumped on the board 1:57 into the game when Josh Heller (2 goals, 3 assists) banged home the rebound from a Josh Erez (2 goals, 2 assists) shot.  Three minutes later, Eric Taub accepted a beautiful pass from David Sandel that set up the first of his two breakaway goals.  Towards the end of the first period, Mark Ghermezian made a deft move to gain the offensive zone and scored with a picture-perfect wristshot from the top of the face-off circle to open the Yeshiva lead to 5-0.

Yeshiva entered the 2nd period with a “defense first” attitude, playing more cautiously to prevent a comeback attempt by the Judges.  Brandeis showed signs of life as they capitalized on a turnover in Yeshiva’s zone to get on the board.  But thanks to the stellar play of Yeshiva goaltender Josh Platt and an exceptional team defensive effort, the puck never crossed the Yeshiva goal line again. 

Brandeis tried to mount a furious third period comeback, but Platt and the Yeshiva Defensemen continued to frustrate their efforts.  Ronen Elefant, who scored a goal in the third period, lead the defense along with seniors Dani Oppenheimer, Jon Katz, and Paul Ghermezian.  Yeshiva returned to their locker room at the end of the second period with a comfortable 6-1 lead.

Yeshiva didn’t let up on the offensive assault in the final period, destroying any hopes the Judges had of making it a close contest.  Moments after the puck was dropped, Taub scored his second goal of the game adding to Yeshiva’s lead and setting the tone for the period.  Heller and Erez each added their second goals of the game, along with scores from Elefant and Jeremy Sandel. 

As Brandeis players grew frustrated that all the cheers were going against them, the play got more aggressive and several mini-brawls broke out.  Although the referees dished out nearly 60 minutes in penalty time over the course of the game, everyone left their hard feelings behind with the final whistle as both sides amiably lined up to shake hands at center ice in a great display of sportsmanship.

Team captains Elefant and J.A. Bruckner did a great job of readying their troops for this battle, and Coach Ari Kellman made all the right moves with his line combinations and defensive strategy.  This dominating performance was the Yeshiva hockey team’s way of putting an exclamation point to an interesting and immensely entertaining Shabbos.  Anxious to redeem themselves, The Judges challenged the Colt 45’s to a re-match in New York at the end of April where they hope to get a measure of revenge.  The Yeshiva team magnanimously accepted, and as the two sides work out the details of the meeting, we can all look forward to some more exciting Yeshiva hockey.