Over the weekend, the Kent State hockey team took on West Virginia University and Mercyhurst University in back-to-back games.
On Friday, the Flashes lost 5-1 against West Virginia, but KSU returned strong on Saturday, taking a 9-0 win against Mercyhurst.
After the weekend, the Flashes have jumped up to third place in Division I of the American Collegiate Hockey Association standings.
“We had a lot of business to take care of,” coach Zack Nowak said. “We had seven guys sitting out.”
Game 1
Friday, the Golden Flashes played a tough game against West Virginia.
West Virginia had an early lead on the Flashes, scoring one point on the Flashes before 10 minutes had passed. West Virginia stayed strong, ending the first period with a score of 2-0.
West Virginia kept its momentum through the second period, scoring another goal halfway through it. This would put West Virginia up 3-0 against the Flashes.
In the third period, West Virginia scored two more points before five minutes had passed. Kent State came back and scored one point. With 12 minutes left in the period, sophomore defenseman Nick Falkowski scored a point during the power play to make the game 5-1.
“We were kind of run down on guys,” Nowak said. “We had to call up two D-III guys to come play with us so we could fill our lineup.”
Game 2
Saturday, the Golden Flashes returned with a full lineup ready to face Mercyhurst University.
Kent hockey had a powerful introduction to its second game of the weekend. In the first period, the Flashes scored four points while simultaneously letting nothing in the net, making the score 4-0.
The second period was slower since the Flashes only scored one goal, but they still held a strong guard on the net. About halfway through the second period, sophomore defenseman JJ Creighton scored a goal making it 5-0 by the end of the second.
The third period mirrored much of what was seen in the first period, with another four points being scored and zero goals being let into the net. Freshman forward Reese Mills scored his second goal of the game along with freshman defenseman Nick Storti.
“It was a huge lineup shift,” Nowak said. “I would say that almost everything that could change did change.”
Recap
A few players did well this weekend with Storti in particular. Storti scored twice on Saturday and also had three assists.
“He did things that we’ve been asking him to work on all year,” Nowak said. “It all just showed up tonight.”
Another player who stepped up over the weekend was graduate student forward Tommy Kilway. Kilway is the team captain, and he tore his ACL in December. He only missed four games and came back strong over the weekend.
Finally, junior goalie Alex Toth played a very strong game on Saturday. Toth got his first shutout, and during the game, he blocked 29 out of 29 shots on goal.
Up Next
The Flashes will go on to play Duquesne University and John Carroll University. Duquesne has a record of 11-11, and John Carroll has a record of 20-4. On Friday, the game will be at Alpha Ice Complex at 8 p.m. On Saturday, the game will take place at Floyd Stefanski Ice Center at 6 p.m.
“We need to keep pushing forward and get two more conference wins,” Nowak said. “We need to play smart and stay out of the box.”
Jamie First is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
