The Coastal Carolina Club Ice Hockey Team traveled to Orlando, FL this past weekend to take on the University of Central Florida Knights in an early season test at the RDV Ice Den. In the game on Friday night October 7th, the Chants shutout the Knights by a score of 4-0 with goals from Brady Barnes, Owen O’Brien, and two goals from Liam Walsh. Freshman goalie James Amorelli, making his first start of the season, stopped 30 shots to pitch a shutout in his college debut. The Chants jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead and never looked back as they ground out the 2nd and 3rd periods for the win.
The game on Saturday October 8th was a back and forth affair between the teams. UCF held a 1-0 lead before notching two power play goals late in the 2nd period to take a 3-0 lead into the third. The never say die Chants were able to mount a comeback on goals from Liam Walsh and Owen O’Brien but they came up just short as time expired to suffer their first loss of the season.
All in all it was a great weekend for the Chants as they ventured to the Sunshine State for the first time in several years and took on a tough UCF Knights team.
CCU Head Coach Grant Williams commented, “we had a successful weekend on many counts especially with this being early in the season and on such a long road trip. All the guys gave a great effort and we almost came back to tie the 2nd game. The puck just didn’t bounce our way but in all it was a great experience for the team. I’m proud of them for not giving up.”
The Chants will be back in action this Friday night October 14th as they travel to Columbia to take on their in-state rival University of South Carolina at 8:15pm.