Herman scores OT Opening Night game-winner

RALEIGH, NC – NC State’s Icepack opened the season with a 2-1 overtime win against the Georgia Dawgs on Friday night. 

BOX SCORE  | SKATER STATS

Isaac Tawyer started in net for the Icepack and kept out 10 shots on goal in the first period to get the game going. The Dawgs came out strong, but a holding penalty on Georgia gave the Icepack a power play, where Jake Gifford capitalized and scored the first goal of the season. Netted at 16:12, the Icepack took control of the game, with Nick Librizzi and Holden Koufman each tallying an assist. 

Georgia answered 25 seconds into the second, when Truman Haugen netted an unassisted goal on goaltender Ethan Roberts, who had just entered the game. Roberts allowed one goal on 13 shots to keep the game tied. The Dawgs’ defense tightened around goalie Isaac Haugen, and the period ended tied 1-1. 

Pieter Bartelse took over in net for NC State in the third, which featured four combined penalties and several tangles between teams. The Icepack could not convert on their second power play, and Georgia earned its first man advantage late in the period when Reece Johnson was called for slashing, going after a loose puck. In his debut with the club, Bartelse faced 10 shots between both regulation and overtime play, including notching a secondary assist on the overtime game-winner. NC State held off the Dawgs for the first minute of their power play, sending the game into overtime.

The Dawgs opened overtime with the remaining minute of their power play, but the Icepack penalty kill held firm. Moments later, NC State captain Zach Herman buried the game-winner off the post, sealing the victory in his 100th game with the Icepack. 

​NC State (1-0) returns to Invisalign Arena on Sept. 12 to open a Home and Home against Liberty.