Game 1 (Friday, Nov. 19, 2021) | FAU 8, University of South Florida 2

The Owls (9-2-1-0, 7-1-0-0 SECHC) took on the University of South Florida Ice Bulls (7-4-1-0, 6-3-1-0 SCHC) Friday night and managed to extend their win streak to four games.

Early on, FAU struggled with generating offense in the first period against the Ice Bulls. A sharp angled shot by the Bulls bounced off the skate of sophomore goalie Sean Williams and found its way into the back of FAU’s net at 10:24.

Two penalties, one taken at 9:09 and the other at 7:27, did not help matters as it forced the Owls on the defensive for nearly four minutes. Fortunately for FAU, junior forward Matias Weir scored with two minutes left in the period to tie the game back up.

The first half of the second period was a back-and-forth game that saw both teams get good opportunities, but neither capitalized on them. However, momentum eventually swung towards the Owls and stayed there for the remainder of the night.    

Junior defensemen David Israel broke the stalemate at 8:28. He raced towards the net, maneuvered around USF’s goaltender, and fired the puck in to give FAU the go-ahead goal.

The Owls were given two power-play opportunities before the end of the period, one of which they converted on. Senior centerman Nick Pica snapped the puck past the goalie with just 23 seconds remaining in the period to make it 3-1 for the Owls.

FAU cracked the game wide open in the third period. The Ice Bulls put heavy pressure on the Owls for the first four minutes of the period, but their effort did not bear any fruit as Williams stood tall in net.

Eventually, junior forward Jake Friedman and Weir got behind USF’s defense with the puck for a two-on-none rush against the goaltender. Friedman passed the puck across the middle to Weir, who fired it home for his second goal of the night at 15:43.

The crowd’s cheers for Weir’s second had hardly ceased when only 13 seconds later, he scored again, earning himself a hat-trick of three goals. One fan threw their hat onto the ice for him, though it was quickly returned over the glass by the officials. The score was now 5-1 in favor of FAU.

The Ice Bulls did not go down without a fight. At 14:02, they deflected a puck into FAU’s net.

FAU restored its four-goal lead only a minute later, however, with sophomore forward Tyler Stowe scoring during a scramble in front of USF’s net.

Sophomore forward Griffin Bono netted another goal for FAU at 10:28 to make it 7-2 in favor of the Owls.

A flurry of penalties in the waning minutes of the third brought excitement, and another goal for the Owls. This time, it was scored by Friedman at 2:13 while both teams were down a player due to penalties. The game finished shortly after with an 8-2 win for FAU over the Ice Bulls.

Nicholas Montante is a contributing writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected], or tweet him @nickmontante1.

Game 2 (Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021) | USF 4, FAU 3

The Owls’ (9-3-1-0, 7-1-0-0 SECHC) winning-streak snapped at home against the University of South Florida (8-4-1-0, 6-3-1-0 SCHC) Saturday afternoon. 

FAU started quickly as senior center Nick Pica put the puck in the back of the net just 20 seconds into the game. This marks his seventh of the 2021 campaign. 

Junior forward Matias Weir would later put the Owls up by two, as he found twine for the 12th time this season.

The Ice Bulls started to gain momentum and eventually took the lead, as they scored three straight goals. 

Sophomore forward Tyler Stowe knotted the game at three with his third of the season.

USF answered and took the lead back to win the game later in the third period. 

The Owls will remain home for a doubleheader against the University of Mississippi at the Panthers’ Ice Den on Friday, Dec. 3 and Saturday Dec. 4. Both games will start at 9 p.m.

Bryce Totz is a staff writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected], or tweet him @brycetotz.