The Kent State hockey team took back-to-back wins Friday and Saturday against Mercyhurst and West Virginia.
After some hard matches against IUP and Duquesne last weekend, the Flashes came back strong with a 10-0 win against Mercyhurst and a 3-2 win against West Virginia.
“We needed a big-time bounce-back weekend,” coach Zach Nowak said. “Last weekend was not a good showing for us as a team in terms of who we are, and everyone in this locker room knows that we’re a lot better than we were.”
Friday night, the game against Mercyhurst started with the Flashes gaining an early lead of 4-0 in the first period. The momentum didn’t stop there, with the Flashes maintaining it throughout the game.
In the second period, the Flashes’ offense did not let up, and they went on to score three more goals on Mercyhurst, extending their lead to a strong 7-0.
The third period followed a similar pattern to the rest, with the Flashes scoring another three goals, adding to their already strong lead on Mercyhurst, and the KSU won the game 10-0.
“Mercyhurst was a little banged up, they were injured, but we knew we had a lot to prove,” Nowak said. “And unfortunately, Mercyhurst was in the way of that.”
Saturday, the Flashes played West Virginia, and the first period started with WVU scoring a goal making it 1-0. Despite their early deficit, the Flashes fought hard and stayed determined.
The second period had a similar start with WVU scoring another goal. The Flashes fought back and scored three goals in the second period, making the score 3-2.
In the third, the Flashes continued this momentum by outshooting WVU 15-9 and ending the game 3-2.
Over the weekend, the Flashes outshot both teams – Mercyhurst 40-24 and WVU 58-32.
Senior goalie Nick Beck broke Kent’s ACHA record of games played by a goalie with 76 games played, which was previously held by Nowak. Beck also made a total of 47 saves over the weekend.
“Nick actually took that record from me from my time here at Kent, so he played his 75th and 76th games here this weekend,” said Nowak. “I was at 74, so he overtook me, which I am super happy about.”
Freshman forward Max Mudge ended up having to switch from playing forward to defense as a result of injured players. Over the weekend, Mudge had two assists along with some strong plays out of the back end that helped the Flashes.
Another player who stood out was freshman forward Cole Bianchin, who had four goals and a hat trick over the weekend. One of the goals happened during a power play, and he had two assists, making it a total of six goals produced over the weekend.
The Flashes will take on Northwood University in back-to-back games Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
“There were times when we were really good, and then there were times when we just didn’t help each other very well,” Nowak said. “Overall, it’s continuing to focus on the things that got us good results here today and yesterday.”
Jamie First is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].