Hockey team earns one draw in tough weekend
The GCSU club hockey team played in an event in Snellville this past weekend, hosted by the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association, where nine schools were represented. The Bobcats played a total of four games in the weekend event, which resulted in one draw and three losses.
GCSU’s first game was on Saturday against Georgia State, which ended in a 7-7 draw.
In the first period, Georgia State took control of the game and earned a 4-0 lead over the Bobcats. GCSU stepped up its game and the second period ended with the Bobcats trailing 6-4. At the start of the third period, the Bobcats continued to play aggressively and were able to tie the score at 7-7. Even though the Bobcats tied the score and took control of the game after a four-goal deficit, they were unable to break the tie and the game ended in a 7-7 draw.
Freshman forward Bryce Bessette and junior forward Jeremy McNicholas each had two goals and two assists for the Bobcats,.
“Even though we tied Georgia State, I’d chalk it up as a victory,” senior defenseman Erik Olney said. “We were down, then we battled back and took control of the game. I feel if we had an overtime session we would have won.”
After their game against Georgia State, the Bobcats faced D-I South Carolina. Although GCSU battled hard, they were defeated by the Gamecocks 8-4.
After their defeat against South Carolina, the Bobcats played their third game of the day against one of the best D-I teams, North Carolina State.
The Bobcats fought hard against the Wolfpack, but suffered a 13-0 shutout.
“It was a humbling experience,” Olney said. “You never get better playing teams worse than yourself, you get better by playing teams better than you.”
GCSU played its fourth and final game of the event on Sunday against Kennesaw. Even though both teams came onto the rink playing aggressively, the Bobcats were defeated 4-2 by the Owls.
Senior forward Matt Moore scored the only unassisted goal for the Bobcats in the game.
The Bobcats are on the road to Charlotte, N.C. to partake in the Coastal Cup Feb. 12-14.
“As a team, we need to step up the intensity of our training,” Olney said. “We need to work on our breakouts, which is our transition from defense to offense and work on cohesiveness all over the team.”
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