KSU sophomore and club hockey player Justin Day was probably surprised he even scored the Owls sixth goal in an 8-1 season opening win over Alabama on Sept. 29 at the Ice Forum.
The surprise did not stop there, however, as Day found out hours later that his highlight reel goal—a low percentage shot as he was spinning from his knees—made national television.
“I have never scored a goal quite like this before. It was a very special sequence of events that allowed me to take the shot like that. I was quite lucky for it to happen,” Day said.
The goal happened with just over six minutes left in the second period. Day was wrapping around from behind the goal when he received the puck and was simultaneously tripped to his knees by an Alabama player. Grounded, and facing away from the goal, Day stuck the goal in over the Crimson Tide goalie to help the Owls to a 6-1 lead.
“I had no idea how amazing this goal looked until I looked at the video myself,” Day said. “As I was sliding backwards I knew I had a very small opportunity and that every time the Bama goal tender went to his butterfly he dropped his blocker and glove, leaving the top corners open.”
On Oct. 3, Day’s tricky shot ran in the number-two slot on SportsCenter’s Top Ten, a feature during the ESPN program that showcases the best plays in sports from the day.
Usually, the program exclusively features video it gets from major network programming. KSU hockey’s video partner, Steve Hampton of H & H Multimedia, uploaded the video to the group’s YouTube channel and immediately began getting requests from multiple hockey organizations to use the footage.
Fellow teammate Larry Adegoke tweeted the video to ESPN analyst John Buccigross, who then retweeted it. The clip gained the attention of ESPN’s production crew and ran that night.
“ESPN just asked our video partner, Steve Hampton, to release the video of Justin Day’s goal for consideration on SportsCenter’s Top Ten! Everyone tune in tonight and hope that KSU makes a debut on national television!” Kennesaw State University Ice Hockey’s Facebook page posted on Oct. 2.
As of Sunday night, the video has 30,000 plus views on YouTube at its original channel. Day said the coverage was definitely good for the team.
“The video making ESPN has drawn a great deal of attention to the KSU hockey team,” Day said. “This is crucial for us since we have to pay to play. The more fans we bring in per game the easier it is for us to operate.”
Day’s goal marked a rare moment of national attention on the sports front for KSU. KSU hosted the 2011 Women’s College Cup, the national championships for NCAA Division I soccer in December of last year. That event was televised on ESPNU, a part of ESPN’s family of networks.
As well, the men’s basketball team has made brief appearances on ESPN through its online broadcasting on ESPN3.com in games against Mercer, East Tennessee State, and in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament in the past few years. The men’s team also made ESPN’s highlight reel in 2011 when it beat Georgia Tech in the Convocation Center, 80- 63, in front of a record crowd.
As far as the game played on ice goes for the Owls, Day is convinced the team and its potential for success is the real focus.
“After tryouts this year we knew we had a team that could make it to the national championships and have an excellent chance to win it all,” Day said. “Every player on the team is very confident that we are going to win every game we play.”
KSU lost its exhibition to open the season against Georgia a week before the Alabama contest, but since the Owls have started 6-0 and have outscored their opponents by a staggering difference of 50-11.
That’s good enough for the team to be ranked number one, not two like their impressive video, in the ACHA South Region.
KSU’s latest victories came against Tampa, on the road, this past weekend.
