The reigning NCRHA national champion Yeshiva University Roller Hockey Maccabees kicked off this year’s title chase, securing their first-ever Regional Championship over the weekend at Marple Sports Arena in Broomall, Pennsylvania. The Macs displayed resilience, skill and elite goaltending throughout the tournament. They culminated in a dramatic 2-1 victory over top-seeded Rhode Island to punch their ticket to the NCRHA Nationals in Fort Myers, Florida.
After a 10-5-1 regular season, the fourth-seeded boys started the tournament dominantly, taking down fifth-ranked Stony Brook 6-2 on Friday morning. It began as a defensive chess match, but YU’s patience and speed proved to be the difference, punching their ticket to the next round against Oswego.
Early on, both teams played a disciplined, low-event game, waiting for the right moment to strike. YU found theirs late in the first period. Jacob Diner chipped the puck off the boards, creating a 2-on-1 rush, and sniped a perfect shot to the top right corner to give the Macs a 1-0 lead. It wasn’t just luck—he had worked on that sequence the night before with ice hockey forward Aryeh Keller and dual hockey defenseman Meir Drazin at MTA. That extra practice paid off big time.
Meanwhile, in a last-minute lineup change, All-Star goalie Micheal Mintz got the start, and he immediately showed why. His most significant moment came on a second-period penalty kill, where he put on a show, making a series of acrobatic saves to keep Stony Brook off the board. YU’s defensive structure stifled the opposition, and when their moment came, they struck again. Benji Froom intercepted a puck, turned on the jets, and fired one past the goaltender to make it 2-0.
Minutes later, Donny Fuchs made the breakout pass, and Coach and YU Roller legend Zachary Levy could be heard yelling, “Pick up speed!” Yeshiva did precisely that. Ezra Csillag won a board battle, Gabriel Rosenblatt fed Froom in the slot, and he finished with a slick backhand to extend the lead to 3-0. Stony Brook got one back, but Ariel Greenberg had an answer, stepping into a drop pass from his fellow Bostonian Sol Feder and wiring a shot off the left corner bar and in to make it 4-1.
Stony Brook clawed back late in the second, but Diner wasn’t having it. He picked off a loose puck, flew down the right side, and snuck a backhand wraparound past the goalie for a 5-2 lead. Mintz continued to shut the door on a late penalty kill, flashing his elite reflexes to keep the cushion intact. Finally, Froom put the finishing touch on his hat trick with an empty-net dagger, winning a footrace, pulling off a smooth reverse spin, and tucking it into the open cage to seal the 6-2 win.
The win set up a showdown with Oswego in the next round, and what happened in that game was nothing short of legendary. YU pulled off the biggest comeback in program history, rallying from a 7-3 deficit to stun Oswego 8-7 in overtime—just in time for Shabbat.
Oswego came out flying, putting YU in an early hole with a power-play goal. Feder answered by setting up Froom in the slot, but Oswego’s speed created Mac’s defensive lapses, extending their lead to 3-1. Froom got another, but Oswego kept coming, making it 4-2 after one. By the middle of the second, things looked bleak at 6-2.
That’s when Coach Levy had seen enough. He called a timeout and let his squad have it. The speech worked immediately. Just 25 seconds later, Greenberg forced a turnover, Feder buried it, and YU was back within three. They locked things down defensively, but Oswego managed to sneak in one more before the period ended, making it 7-3 heading into the third. On the Oswego bench, the players were laughing, thinking it was over. Yeshiva had other ideas.
YU needed a fast start, and Feder delivered, picking up a loose puck and wrapping it home. Then, just as a power play expired, Csillag dropped a pass to Feder, who rifled a shot into the net for his hat trick. It was 7-5, and the momentum had shifted entirely. Froom took over from there, burying a scramble in front, then tying the game with 57 seconds left after a clutch Diner breakup and feed.
Oswego threw everything at YU in the dying seconds, including a wide-open net chance, but Fuchs made a heroic sliding block to send the game to overtime. Then, with Shabbat approaching, Csillag found Froom one last time. His third straight goal, fifth of the game, and eighth of the tournament meant YU had done the impossible, completing the comeback and earning a trip to the semifinals.
YU stormed past Stony Brook again 8-2 on Sunday at 8 a.m. in a semifinal rematch after their rivals won four straight games in the loser’s bracket. Froom wasted no time, scoring twice in the opening minutes. The chemistry between Greenberg and Feder was on full display, with Greenberg setting up Feder for a snipe. Then, Froom turned on the style, pulling a between-the-legs move to dance around a defender before sniping the top glove. It was 4-0 before Stony Brook even knew what hit them.
Veteran defenseman Fuchs got in on the action next, hammering home a setup from Froom. Feder added another highlight-reel goal, charging down the middle while falling and roofing the puck with three seconds remaining in the middle frame, extending YU’s lead to 6-1. Csillag finally got his goal-scoring moment, stealing a puck, racing down the wing, and tucking it upstairs to seal the dominant win, while Mintz made 27 saves between the pipes, keeping Stony Brook’s offense contained.
That set up a 10 a.m. battle for the Regional Championship against top-seeded Rhode Island, a team that had gone 15-1 in the regular season. It was a defensive war. Mintz was outstanding, but YU trailed 1-0 in the final period. They needed a hero. Feder stepped up, driving the net with a defender draped all over him and burying the equalizer as Froom screened the goalie.
Then came the moment that will go down in YU Roller history. With 4:30 remaining, Diner and Froom executed a perfect give-and-go, and Diner ripped it home from the slot to put the Macs ahead 2-1. The final two minutes saw Rhode Island throw everything at Yeshiva, but Mintz held firm. Then, when URI appeared to break through, Rosenblatt made a championship-level soccer-style clear, sending the puck down the rink and securing the win. Froom earned MVP honors with a playoff-leading 10 goals in four games.
The reigning national champs have done it as regional champions. It was the start of a historic Sunday for YU athletics, with the basketball team stunning Farmingdale State hours later. Now, the Roller Hockey squad sets their sights on Fort Myers, Florida, for the D3 NCRHA nationals from April 2-6, where they’ll look to defend their throne and chase another banner.
