Preseason Around the Corner

October 2- After a hard month of training camp, head coach Jim Tamburino's troops are set to take the rink in Feasterville, PA for the start of the 2009-2010 season.

Both teams will feature a number of new faces, with 14 players joining the club this year and putting on the blue and gold for the first time. At the same time, there is quite a veteran presence within the ranks as well, as 24 members return, 14 of which are in their fourth season with the Dutch.

The games start early, as the B team has a red eye special against Rutgers at 7 AM on Saturday. The B team looks to end a streak of 6 straight losses to the Scarlet Knights dating back to 2005. These two teams met in the preseason last year as well, with the Pride falling 7-3.

The A season starts at noon, with the Dutchmen taking on the Black Knights of the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Pride dropped all three games against Army last year after winning their last contest of the 07-08 season against them. The Hofstra roster, however, includes 5 freshmen who will be playing their first collegiate games, who were not around for last year's contests.

The B team then takes on Temple at 3:00. These two clubs have only played twice throughout their years, with the series split at one a piece. Temple went on a run at the end of last season, winning their last 7 regular season games en route to their run at the ECRHA Regional Championships.

To close out Saturday night for Hofstra, the A team takes on the '08-'09 ECRHA champions Rhode Island, in one of the most anticipated matchups of the weekend's schedule. Last year, the Pride were beating Rhode Island at Marple Sports Arena in Broomall, PA, before a power failure caused the lights to go out in the building. Once the game restarted, the Rams took advantage of the rest and ended up scoring 5 unanswered goals, defeating Hofstra by a score of 10-7. The puck drops at 8:00.

Sunday morning is another early start for the B team, as they take on the '08-'09 champions as well, in the form of the Penn State Nittany Lions for a 7:00 start. These two teams haven't played since the 2007 season, but Penn State has had the advantage in their past matchups.

The weekend ends with the A team taking on Rutgers for a 1:00 meeting. While Hofstra has never beaten Rutgers in regular season play, they have several wins over them in both the Rutgers hosted preseason tournament, as well as a home and home series that was held for several consecutive springs.

Keep tuned to HofstraHockey.net and www.ECRHA.net all weekend for scores and game recaps from Feasterville.