Ryan Barlock strives for consistency anytime he’s involved in anything regarding hockey, whether it’s taking part in a 6 a.m. workout or playing in the late minutes of a close game.
“The key to my success was part of buying into the team’s success,” said Barlock, a senior defenseman at Curry. “Bringing a 100 percent effort every day, whether it’s practice or games, and giving what I have to give 100 percent of the time.
“Being prepared for every game, taking one game at a time and focusing on that game, it’s what I’ve done throughout my career. More so since I got to college. You focus on taking things on a game-by game approach and learning something new every day.”
Entering Curry’s nonconference game Wednesday at Connecticut College, Barlock was the second-leading scorer among ECAC Northeast defensemen with four goals and 11 assists, behind Johnson and Wales’ Domenic Recchia (two goals, 14 assists), the nation’s leading scorer among defensemen.
Barlock is also tied for second in the nation among Division III defenseman in scoring with Milwaukee School of Engineering freshman Logan Bauman (one goal, 14 assists).
Barlock’s offensive success so far this season is a byproduct of Curry’s system, as the Colonels (7-3, 5-2 ECAC Northeast) lead the nation with a scoring average of 5.67 goals a game.
“With our style of play, it allows defensemen to be active, not just the three forwards on the ice,” Barlock said. “We like to pressure teams a lot and we have a ton of speed. We really use our speed to our advantage, beating teams to pucks and making the defensemen work, whether we go by them or have them take penalties.”
In Saturday’s 6-5 loss to Hamilton, Curry led the Continentals, 3-2, with less than 10 minutes left in regulation, but Hamilton scored three goals in a span of 1:21. The Colonels forced overtime on goals by Connor Hendry and Payden Benning in the final four minutes of the third period, but Michael DiMare scored with 59 seconds left in overtime to help Hamilton hand the Colonels their first loss since November 6.
“We just have to keep working within our group,” said Barlock, who had an assist in the loss to Hamilton. “We played well in that game, yet there was a breakdown where (Hamilton) scored three goals in three shifts.
“When we get the opportunity to score, we need to bury those chances. We took a lot of shots (46), but we didn’t capitalize.”
Curry left Milton, Mass., Thursday afternoon for a four-game, eight-day road trip through New York. The Colonels play four nonconference games: Friday at Hobart, Saturday at No. 10 Utica, Tuesday at Manhattanville and the following Friday (January 13) at No. 2 Oswego.
“All the guys look forward to going to Utica,” Barlock said. “It’s a fun atmosphere. And the last three years we’ve played them, we’ve always played them really tight. We’ve always had a good rivalry with them and we always look at that game on the schedule. Playing there, it’s a little more intense than what we’re usually used to playing. They get a big crowd there, and it’s a lot of in-your-face hockey. And those are the types of games I like playing in.”
This article originally appeared on USCHO.com on January 5, 2012. Rachel Lenzi can be reached at rachel.lenzi@uscho.com.
