The University of Miami managed to put a sour mood on Florida Atlantic’s ice hockey team’s home opener by beating the Owls 5-4 on Friday, Sept. 23. This loss came in the wake of two others against the University of Central Florida earlier this month.

The Owls started the game off right with a goal from Adam Lieberman and the team continued to play strong — Ryan Deemer, Mark Panciera and Austin Connors brought the score up to an imposing 4-0.

However, an unfortunate incident for FAU provided a shake-up during the second period when a teammate went down. The Hurricanes then played an aggressive third period, making two shots in quick succession to change everything and come dangerously close to FAU’s score.

With only 26 seconds left in the game, another puck slipped past goalie Steve Krzeminski, taking the game to overtime with a score of 4-4. Miami stole the game with a fifth goal in overtime.

FAU’s ice hockey team has undergone an extreme transformation. Out of a roster of 21 players, only six are returning from the 2015-2016 season and 70 percent of the roster consists of players new to the Owls.

Veteran goalie Steve Krzeminski is one of the six team members to return this year.

The University Press asked Krzeminski, “What do the significant changes in the team mean for them as a whole?”

“It establishes who the leaders are going to be,” Krzeminski said.

Despite the changes in the makeup of the team, Krzeminski says it’s not hard to make connections with the newer players. “We all have one thing in common … love of hockey.”

Starting in the net on Saturday night was newcomer Austin Luboff, who made several saves after letting one in on FAU’s power play. The Owls led the game 2-1, but a good first period was the only thing in store for Saturday night’s game at the Kendall Ice Arena.

The second period was halted because of an issue with the ice.

Fans waited patiently as the intermission extended, taking a dance break to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin” as the players returned to warming up, or taking a moment to socialize briefly with members of the opposing team.

Thirty minutes later, the already small crowd began to dwindle. Waiting for ice to freeze is only slightly more thrilling than watching paint dry. Only a scattered few remained nearly an hour later as both their patience and the ice grew thin.

The game was declared rescheduled.

Will the Owls get their revenge in the rematch against the Hurricanes?

Follow @FAU_Hockey on Twitter for details on the rescheduled game.

Games are $8 or free with an FAU ID.

Upcoming home games include:

Oct. 1 – Florida Institute of Technology vs. FAU at Palm Beach Ice Works in West Palm Beach

Nov. 18 – Florida State University vs. FAU at the Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs

Nov. 19 – FSU vs. FAU at Panthers IceDen.

Hilary Webber is a contributing writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet her @hilareel.