Hockey wins two, loses two in Snellville event

The Georgia College club hockey team traveled to Gwinnett County on Jan. 29 to 30 and played four games in Snellville’s SGAA Dual Deck Hockey Arena, beating Georgia Tech and Middle Tennessee State University but losing to Coastal Carolina and Kennesaw State University’s B team.

During the last tournament Georgia College played in Ft. Myers, Fla. in November of 2010 the team gave up four losses including one to the KSU B team. The team has only beaten KSU’s B team once out of three matches this season. The match against KSU on Sunday was the last one of the weekend. The team had won two out of three games on Saturday, but knew that they had to play hard to beat their rivals. Kennesaw took the lead three minutes in by scoring a goal on a power play.

Georgia College retaliated with a goal by Matt Shrum. Kennesaw however then went on to score six unanswered points before Jeremy McNicholas scored the first goal of the third period to make it 7-2 Kennesaw.

The Bobcats were unable to put up any more points and lost 9-2. What hurt the Bobcats most in their final match was the low number of shots on goal and penalties. KSU doubled the Bobcats 12 shots on goal and only had two penalties compared to six for the Bobcats. Kennesaw subsequently scored four goals during power plays.

“We need to settle down out there, control the puck and just play our game. This past tournament we tried to do this and when we did we won, but when we didn’t we lost. Its a game of control and that’s what you need to win. We also need to crash the net when a shot is taken and try to get rebounds. You can’t score if you don’t shoot,” junior defenseman Cain Cantrell said.

The Bobcats took 66 shots on goal during the four games of the weekend and opponents took 89 shots on the Bobcats rookie Goalie Andrew Whitaker.

“This is the first time I’ve played goalie on a roller hockey team. I have some experience playing ice hockey, but they are very different and the transition is tough. I’m still shaking off a lot of rust,” Whittaker said. “I am an emotional guy that gets into the game a lot, so I do sometimes internalize goals I should have stopped. If the opposing team is shredding the defense in front of me and I don’t stop the shots, I get mad at myself because I know I’m the last line of defense. But my teammates are very encouraging and if I let a goal in some one always comes and puts a hand on my shoulder and says ‘You’re doing great. Keep your head up and stop the next one.’ It’s a good feeling and makes me want to play harder.”

The team has strong individual players as seven of the 10 players scored a goal in the tournament. No matter how hard the team plays individually, they often struggle with communication and leadership. The team has no official coach, and players’ fathers have stood in to provide some support, but the team lacks a strong authoritative figure.

“Having a knowledgeable coach would help increase the teams overall productivity and focus our attention to the aspects of our game that really warrant it. Without an official coach to run practices, call lines, deliver pep talks, and discipline players, the responsibility falls on the players which can make playing a feat in itself,” senior forward Jeff Brittain said.

The team will head to Columbia South Carolina on Feb.12 to 13 to take on Florida State, James Madison and Virginia Tech.

“The team has greatly improved from last year. As far as a record goes, we’ve doubled our wins and still have four regular season games left,” Brittain said. “We still struggle to communicate effectively, but that just leaves room for improvement.”