While the rain fell on the campus of Kennesaw State University this weekend, the school’s hockey squad looked to stir up a storm of their own.
They didn’t start a hurricane, but they did have some teams running for cover.
The KSU Club Ice Hockey team traveled to Lynchburg, VA., this past weekend to compete in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association Playoffs at Liberty University.
The Owls competed in the South Division Playoffs, and were seeded 4th overall heading into the opening round of tournament play. The Owls first game was against 5th seeded Eastern Carolina on
Friday, Feb. 17th. They defeated the Pirates by a score of 7-3.
“The score doesn’t say much about how the game really was,” said Owl’s goaltender Ollie Evans. “ECU came out hard and put a lot of pressure on us. It was a very close game till the end of the second.”
The Owls were aided by the strong play of junior forward Jake Garrison, who played strong during the duration of the entire tournament.
“He really stepped up,” Evans said. “We were missing a lot of players this weekend, so everyone did a great job stepping up, but Jake had some key plays that gave us the momentum we needed.”
After defeating the Pirates, the Owls advanced to the second round of divisional play against the top-seeded team in the tournament, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. They fell short by a score of 7-3.
The Owls hung with UMBC until the third period when Garrison had a huge collision with one of the Retriever’s players, causing him to lay motionless on the ice. The paramedics arrived and escorted the player to the hospital. The collision seemed to spark the Retrievers, who came out strong when play resumed and the Owls were never able to recover.
“Instead of looking for a guy in the slot like Carolina, UMBC worked the puck around and looked for either a chance to pick a corner or hit a guy streaking towards the net. The game was close but being down five guys hurt,” Evans said. “We lacked the depth in our bench we usually have. Everyone with us played great but a few more skaters would have been helpful.”
The Owls could get another shot at UMBC if they advance to the second round of the American Collegiate Hockey Association Regional’s this weekend.
“Now we know their style and how we can compete with them,” Evans said. “I think we have a very good chance to beat them.”
The Owls will face Virginia Tech in the opening round of the southeast regional tournament. The Owls are seeded 6th, while the Hokies sit at 7th. The Owls are 1-1 against the Hokies after facing them twice during the regular season.
“We know they are a run-and-gun kind of team,” Evans said. “They don’t really look to set up plays and they rely on their speed and skilled players to make their big plays. To prepare for them, we are just going to work on our trap a little more and adjust our defensive game so they play right into it.”
The Owls will travel to Philadelphia this weekend to compete in the ACHA Regional’s. The Owls will face Virginia Tech on Saturday. The time of the game has yet to be determined. For more information, you can follow the team on Facebook at Kennesaw State University Ice Hockey, or check out their website at ksuhockey.com.
