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Invisalign Arena was the place to be Friday night as the Icepack took on the UNCW-Seahawks in another highly anticipated ACC Hockey matchup this season.
NC State pulled out the 4-1 win over the Seahawks, redeeming itself from Thursday's 4-0 loss to two-time defending champ UMary also here on home ice. Sophomore Isaac Tawyer had a brilliant performance in the net all night, recording saves on 24 of the 25 shots on goal he faced. Despite being the lone team to spend time in the penalty box in the opening period, the Icepack struck first with 2:22 left before intermission. Freshman Kameron Langefels opened the scoring for the night, his first as a member of the Icepack, allowing him the honor to remove his yellow laces. The second period is where things truly got interesting as NC State had three power play opportunities in the first seven minutes of action. Senior Matt Miller was able to capitalize for the Icepack, picking up the second goal of the evening and his first of the season. UNCW had a couple of man-advantage opportunities as well in the opening half of the middle period, but it was NC State sophomore Emery Oliver who raised the scoring margin to a 3-0 lead for the team in red, picking up a shorthanded goal with 10:41 left to play. Langefels notched his second of the night a little less than halfway through the final period, raising the Icepack lead to 4-0. Wilmington ended Tawyer's shutout run with 5:08 left in the third period, but it was too little too late for the Seahawks as they were simply overpowered by the Icepack all night. Despite missing a few key players due to injury, the Icepack was still able to pick up a big win over an ACC Hockey League foe, bringing the team's overall record to 3-3-1 this season and 1-1 in the ACCHL. Next up for NC State is the ACCHL-TSHL Showcase in Lancerlot-Vinton Virginia from October 21st to the 23rd where the Icepack is set to play Indiana University, University of Louisville and Ohio State.
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 (Raleigh, NC) - Despite a valiant effort, the Icepack’s marquee Thursday night matchup against the UMary Marauders resulted in a hard-fought 4-0 loss. The team seeked to redeem themselves after a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Marauders in the 2020 Nationals Quarterfinals, but unfortunately fell short in their pursuit of redemption.
After a dominant effort throughout the first period by the Marauders, they finally broke through with a goal from assistant captain Isaiah Thomas with 8:07 remaining. The Marauders continued their dominance with a goal by Liam Massie at the 5:13 mark, extending their lead to two. The Icepack gained some momentum early in the second period, but it soon began to unravel when the team accrued a 5-minute major penalty with eight minutes remaining in the second frame. UMary didn’t take long to take advantage of their extended power play, scoring twice within a two minute span to expand their lead to four. The Marauders opened the door for the Icepack to creep back into the game with multiple minor penalties past the 9-minute mark of the third period. Unfortunately, the team was unable to capitalize on these opportunities, leaving the final frame of the game with no goals scored, and bringing the final score to 4-0. Thursday night’s loss brings the Icepack’s overall record to 2-3-1 in ACHA play this season. Being under “.500” is not something this team is used to, especially not this far into the season. Thankfully, they won’t wait long to have an opportunity to rebound, as they take on the scrappy UNC Wilmington Seahawks at 8:15pm at Invisalign Arena on Friday night.  (RALEIGH, NC) – Oftentimes in life, it’s easiest to move on from a tough loss by quickly jumping right back into action. Thankfully, this is the opportunity the Icepack have this upcoming weekend. After a tough outing for the Icepack against the rival UNC Tarheels, they look to redeem themselves with a 2-game road trip to Kentucky.
The Icepack fell to the Tarheels by a score of 5-3 in a back-and-forth affair at Invisalign Arena last Friday, a game the Icepack isn’t used to losing all too often. Since head coach Tim Healy took the reins in April of 2020, the team’s been nothing short of excellent against UNC, posting a 4-0 record and a plus-17 goal differential before last week’s tilt. A combination of an improved UNC team and a tough Icepack performance brought this streak to an abrupt end. Luckily for the team, they have little time to dwell on the result of last week’s game, as they take a quick road trip for a two-game swing to face the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. The team will make their 8-hour bus drive to face off against the Kentucky Wildcats in a midnight game on Friday at the Lexington Ice Center. The team then travels another hour to Louisville, where they’ll take on the Louisville Cardinals at 7:00PM EST on Saturday at the Iceland Sports Complex. While rebounding is certainly front of mind for the Icepack, it won’t be an easy task. The Kentucky Wildcats have opened the season with a 7-game winning streak, including two dominating wins over the UNC Tarheels. The Louisville Cardinals haven’t had a shabby start themselves, winning 5 of their opening 6 contests so far this season. Though this weekend’s competition may be far from a cakewalk, this Icepack team is well prepared for the challenge. A weekend tilt against quality opponents is just what the doctor ordered for this hungry squad, and the team is itching to take advantage. Despite grabbing the first two goals of the evening, the Icepack fell 5-3 to rival UNC back on September 30th.
NC State jumped ahead 2-0 first, but the Tar Heels gained momentum late to score five goals in the last 22 minutes of action. It took almost an entire period for either team to find the back of the net, but it was Garrett Auriene who gave NC State the 1-0 lead with just over a minute left in the opening period. Drew Bresingham joined in on the fun one minute later, capitalizing on a great pass from teammate Zack Robinson to give the Icepack a 2-0 advantage entering the first intermission. The second period was more of an uneventful one. Only one goal was scored in the closing two minutes, cutting the NC State lead in half and bringing the score to 2-1 right before the final period. Things unfortunately didn’t go the same for NC State in the remaining 20 minutes of play. UNC tied the game at two 36 seconds into the third, and the Tar Heels took a 3-2 lead two minutes later. One bright spot for NC State though was Thomas McEneny’s game-tying goal, his first as a member of the Icepack, a huge slap shot to tie the game at three with a little over 16 minutes left on the clock. NC State had a chance to take the lead again on its final power play opportunity of the evening following a penalty against UNC halfway through the third, but the Icepack was unable to convert in this crucial scenario. The Tar Heels had the last laugh, as they took the lead again with five minutes left to play and went up two goals on an empty netter with 23 seconds left of action. Despite having plenty of opportunities to change the outcome throughout the game, this was not Icepack’s night. The team will look to bounce back this upcoming weekend on its trip to Kentucky with matchups against the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville. |
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