1930–31 Villanova Wildcats
men's ice hockey season
Home icePhiladelphia Ice Palace
Record
Overall3–6–0
Home2–0–0
Road0–3–0
Neutral1–3–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachEdward Hunsinger
Captain(s)Bill Orcutt
Villanova Wildcats men's ice hockey seasons
« 1929–30 1931–32 »

The 1930–31 Villanova Wildcats men's ice hockey season was the 2nd season of play for the program.

Season

After a winless though not embarrassing inaugural season, Villanova came into the year with an ambitious schedule. Despite scheduling just a few games at the Philadelphia Ice Palace, the Wildcats would attempt to play upwards of a dozen games during their second year.[1] Several players from the previous season were returning, including leading scorer "Eskimo" Kennedy, and the team was helmed by the football team's assistant coach, Ed Hunsinger. To support the young program, 15 full uniforms were available for the players who made the squad from an initial group of 36 candidates.

The Wildcats started the year with a bang, defeating the Williamsport Amateur Club for the program's first win. In the next game, Villanova faced a tough challenge with a professional outfit, Atlantic City Sea Gulls. Nova held firm in the first period, holding the pros to a single goal while Faughnan netted one for the blue and white. After that strong start, however, the defense collapsed and allowed 14 goals in the final 2 periods. There were 2,000 fans in attendance but most were locals cheering for the birds.[2] Villanova had a long layoff before the next match when they resumed their rivalry with the Penn Athletic Club. Unfortunately, the Pennacs continued their winning streak and edged out the Wildcats by a single goal.

The week afterward was supposed to be an especially busy one for the program as they had scheduled 4 games over 7 days, however, due to weather two of those matches were cancelled while a third was rescheduled to a later date. Instead, the team was only able to ply the junior varsity team from Yale and, despite playing the B team, was still unable to get a victory. They kept even with the J.V. squad through two periods but faltered in the last 20 minutes.[3] With their plans disrupted by the weather, Villanova agreed to participate in the opening game at the Hershey Ice Palace on February 18. They held their old rival Penn A. C. to an even score in regulation and necessitated overtime Nova got the first goal, however, because sudden-death rules did not apply to the first two overtime periods, the Pennacs were able to tie the game in the second 5-minute period and require a third overtime. A goal by their arch-nemesis ended the Wildcats' hoped of finally getting over the hump.[4]

A couple of weeks later, Villanova was getting ready to wind down its season with a match against Princeton's J. V. squad. The Wildcats had their best game of the season with Kennedy leading the way. The winger scored 5 goals in the game, setting a program record. Unfortunately, the team could not keep the momentum and were swamped by Swarthmore in the following match. The next contest was the postponed rematch with the Sea Gulls, however, because of scheduling conflicts, the game had to be played in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The pros were just as impressive the second time around and easily downed the Wildcats. While the gave at Atlantic City was supposed to be the season finale, the team managed to shoehorn in one final game against the Lancaster Athletic Club and get their third win of the season.[5]

Bob Rothert and Charlie Lynch served as team managers.[6]

Roster

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team
Richard Clark
Joseph Delaney D
John Faughnan RW
George Golden W
Charles Hurlbert D
Arthur Kennedy LW
John T. Kilcourse Senior G
Joseph Matera
Hugh McHugh
Murphy W
Massachusetts John J. O'Neill Senior C Boston, Massachusetts
William Orcutt (C) D
Arthur Shortall G
Albert Trosky
Theodore Ventura

Standings

Conference Overall
GP W L T Pct. GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Amherst7160
Army104603734
Bates
Boston University8440.5002230126602841
Bowdoin8260
Brown10910
Clarkson5410.800159109104215
Colgate3120
Cornell5320.600181553201815
Dartmouth135804639
Hamilton9711
Harvard8620.75039141311206218
Massachusetts Agricultural13940
Middlebury10631
MIT9270
New Hampshire127503422
Northeastern11461
Norwich4040
Princeton191450
Rensselaer4040
St. John's
Swarthmore
Union7241
Villanova1010.0002693603459
Williams13661
Yale171511

Schedule and Results

DateOpponentSiteResultRecord
Regular Season
January 10 Williamsport Amateur Club* Philadelphia Ice PalacePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania W 8–4  1–0–0
January 13 at Atlantic City Sea Gulls* Boardwalk HallAtlantic City, New Jersey L 2–15  1–1–0
January 30 vs. Penn Athletic Club* Philadelphia Ice PalacePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania L 1–2  1–2–0
February 13 at Yale J. V.* New Haven ArenaNew Haven, Connecticut L 2–6  1–3–0
February 18 vs. Penn Athletic Club* Hershey Ice Palace • Hershey, Pennsylvania L 4–5 3OT 1–4–0
February 27 Princeton J. V.* Philadelphia Ice PalacePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania W 7–2  2–4–0
March 1 vs. Swarthmore* Hershey Ice Palace • Hershey, Pennsylvania L 2–6  2–5–0
March 4 at Atlantic City Sea Gulls* Boardwalk HallAtlantic City, New Jersey L 2–18  2–6–0
February vs. Lancaster Athletic Club* Hershey Ice Palace • Hershey, Pennsylvania W 6–1  3–6–0
*Non-conference game.

Scoring statistics

Name Position Games Goals Assists Points
Eskimo KennedyLW-18--
Johnny O'NeillC-5--
Bill OrcuttD-3--
Joe DelaneyD-3--
Jackie FaughnanRW-2--
George GoldenW-1--
Al Trosky-1--
Charlie HurlbertD-1--
Ted Ventura-0--
Joe Matera-0--
John KilcourseG-0--
Artie ShortallG-0--
Total34--

† Assists were infrequently recorded and/or reported.

References

  1. "Ice Hockey Team Looks Forward to Good Season". December 9, 1930. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  2. "Sea Gulls too Fast for Felines". January 20, 1931. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  3. "Yale Juniors Win Match in Final Period". February 17, 1931. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  4. "Pucksters Defeat Princeton as 2nd Victory in Drive". February 17, 1931. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  5. "Successful Ice Hockey Year Ends". March 24, 1931. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  6. "1931 Bell Air". Villanova University. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
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