BOX SCORE vs. West Chester (10/22)
BOX SCORE vs. Bloomsburg (10/23)


Reading, Pa. (Oct. 23, 2011) - The Crusaders bounced back Sunday after dropping a heart-breaking 5-4 OT shoot-out loss at the hands of West Chester University.  Less than 24 hours later the Vern smacked the Bloomsburg University Huskies with a 7-1 rebound win. Slightly closer then the final score revealed, Alvernia bombarded Bloomsburg with four third period goals.
 
Senior goaltender Jim Fynes (Philadelphia, Pa. / Roman Catholic) made several stellar saves, including turning away the most exciting shot in hockey, a penalty shot midway thru the second period.  Fynes turned back 21 shots, allowing only an early third period short-handed breakaway goal.  Fynes perhaps made the save of the night with several moments left in the second period.  Bloomsburg mounted a flurry of activity around the Alvernia goal, which culminated with a hard snap shot ticketed for the top left hand corner.  Fynes flashed serious leather with a dazzling glove save that appeared destined for the top shelf. The stand out performance helped improve his record to 4-0 on the season.
 
Alvernia grabbed a commanding lead in the first period jumping out to a 3-0 lead.  The opening period goals were credited to Kevin Mengel (Gilbertsville, Pa / Boyertown) who had two on the evening.  Vinnie Mazzanti (Langhorne, Pa./ Neshaminy HS) and Patrick Dolan (Cranford, Pa. / Cranford HS) also lit the lamp to close out the scoring in the first period.
 
The second period was littered with penalties and sloppy play on both ends of the ice. The goaltending was the story as neither team found the back of the net.
 
Alvernia closed out the game rather emphatically in the final period connecting for four goals in a five-minute span.  Mengel tallied his second goal of the contest.  Defenseman Kevin Meers (Morgantown, Pa. / Twin Valley HS) ripped home a power play winner from the middle of the left face off circle sneaking it in the short side for a 5-1 lead. Freshman Brian Callahan (Willow Grove, Pa. / Upper Moreland HS) put on the “end-to-end” clinic, ultimately sashaying around the offensive zone puck handling thru the Husky defense finishing with a threaded backhand five-hole winner.  Sean Castineira (Philadelphia, Pa. / Roman Catholic HS) finished the barrage of goals with his fourth goal in the last three games.
 
The Vern will head to Rider University next Saturday for a matinee game versus a tough Division II high powered offense.  The Crusaders are 1-2 lifetime against Rider.