The Kennesaw State men’s club ice hockey competed against Ole Miss in its season-opening games on Friday and Saturday night.
KSU was dealt its first loss of the season with a final score of 3-2 in favor of Ole Miss. Although the Ice Owls led 2-1 at the end of the first period in Friday nights’ competition, the Rebels mounted a comeback, scoring the game winning goal at 10:22 in the third period.
It’s obvious the Owls aren’t quite in mid-season form, but nonetheless, there were still some great takeaways from Friday night’s loss.
Tristian Gagner, from the United Kingdom, is a bruiser on defense but also showed off his scoring ability, hammering the puck an impressive 64 feet from the blue line past the Ole Miss goalkeeper.
KSU also did a good job of moving the puck around, getting the majority of the team involved. This was the case when Matthew Butler scored the Owls’ second goal, which was created due to great team play.
Unfortunately for Ole Miss, KSU was not at all phased by Friday night’s loss. In Saturday’s competition, the Ice Owls responded with a dominating 11-3 victory.
With five goals in the first period, two goals in the second period and four goals in the third period, the KSU offense was present from start to finish.
The only glaring weakness in the Owls’ play is the number of penalties the team takes. KSU will try to continue its aggressive gameplay while hopefully avoiding costly penalties that result in power plays for the opposing team.
The next home game is against KSU rival, the University of Georgia on Friday, Sept. 30th. Home games are held at the IceForum at Town Center.
