Game 1 (Friday, Jan. 21, 2022): FAU 8, UCF 4

The FAU Hockey Club (14-3-1-0, 8-1-0-0 SECHC) earned an 8-4 victory over the University of Central Florida (UCF) Knights (2-12-0, 2-5-0 SCHC) on Friday night. 

Sophomore goaltender Sean Williams II started for FAU and saved 16 out of 20 shots. Offensively, the Owls put 47 shots on goal. 

Junior forward Jake Friedman took the Owls’ first shot about a minute into the game and hit the post. This led to opportunities by both teams, but the game remained scoreless throughout the first seven minutes.

Sophomore forward Michael Lesh took the first penalty of the game at 10:00 for tripping. The Knights scored 35 seconds into the man-advantage to take the 1-0 lead. 

“We know we had to come out hard, but we came out a little flat and they put one, but we knew we were fine,” junior forward Matias Wier said. “We have had a lot of games where we started off slow.” 

With just under five minutes left in the first period, the Owls had a two-man breakaway but did not score. About two minutes later with 3:08 left in the period, Weir netted a top-shelf, stick-side goal to tie the game. Friedman and junior forward Myles Davidson were credited with the assists.

“We knew all we had to do is [score] one and then the floodgates would open,” Weir said. 

With 14 seconds left, junior defenseman David Israel was sent to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct. The score remained tied through the rest of the period. 

Despite a slow first period, FAU scored six goals in the second period.

FAU killed the penalty, with 18:14 left in the second period. 15 seconds later, Weir scored again, putting the Owls up 2-1. Senior defenseman Kyle Kasserman made his fifth assist of the season.

At 3:09 in the period, freshman center Douglas Randle scored his first career goal with assists from Friedman and Israel. 

Weir completed the hat trick with 13:03 left in the period, after scoring his third of the game, and 22nd of the season. 

“It’s amazing, it’s such a good feeling especially when it’s from the boys,” Weir said on his hat trick.

UCF answered back at 8:40, making the score 4-2.

At 9:49, the Owls got their first powerplay opportunity. Friedman cashed in and scored the game-winning goal with nine minutes left. 

With 4:03 left in the second, Weir netted his fourth goal of the night. Israel and Davidson assisted the goal. 

“I wasn’t really expecting it to go in and then it goes,” Weir said. “I haven’t had a four-goal game in a while, so it felt really good.” 

Randle drew a penalty with 1:48 to go, and Israel scored. Israel’s goal came with 23.7 seconds left as Friedman and senior center Nick Pica assisted him.

FAU led 7-2 as the second period concluded. 

With 15:19 left in the game, Friedman was hooked, leading to another powerplay goal for the Owls. Israel scored his second of the night, making it 8-2 in FAU’s favor. 

UCF scored with 11:54 left, and a power play goal with 3:12 left. 

“Towards the end, we slowed down and we need to play a full 60 minutes,” Weir said. “It’s been hard for us to do that all season.” 

Overall, the Owls scored on all four powerplay opportunities. 

Bryce Totz is the Sports Editor at the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected], or tweet him @brycetotz. 

Game 2 (Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022): FAU 7, UCF 4

The Owls (15-3-1-0, 8-1-0-0 SECHC) overcame UCF (2-13-0, 2-6-0 SCHC) again the day after beating them 8-4. The Knights proved to be a challenging opponent in Saturday’s game, which was much closer than the final score would reveal. 

The game was also labeled “First Responder Day,” celebrating the first responders in the community. 

The matchup became physical early on with multiple heavy hits thrown between the two teams throughout the game.

FAU managed to strike first just over two minutes into the game when freshman centerman Douglas Randle fired the puck past UCF’s goalie.

UCF struck back with 13:46 left in the period and evened the score on a breakaway chance.

The two teams tested each other’s defense throughout the period and had great chances. However, UCF broke the tie with only a minute and a half left in the first. 

Down by one, FAU looked to start off the second period strong and managed to do so on the powerplay just a minute in. Freshman defenseman Justin Machovina was the goal scorer on the powerplay advantage. 

Shortly after, the Owls were on the powerplay again when junior forward Jake Friedman squeaked the puck just past the goal line around four minutes into the second period. 

Less than four minutes later, UCF maneuvered past FAU’s defense and scored, making it three goals apiece.  From that point on, the Owls struggled with generating offense until they finally struck again with less than five minutes to go in the period. 

Junior forward Matias Weir netted the goal and put FAU ahead 4-3 before the period ended. 

Weir scored again five minutes into the third period after tapping the puck in. Junior defenseman David Israel and junior forward Myles Davidson provided the assists on the play.

The Knights were still in the game however, and they scored with 10:16 left in the third period. 

The game remained tight at 5-4 until Friedman scored again with 3:38 remaining. Davidson and Weir got the puck through UCF’s defense to assist Friedman on the goal. 

UCF pulled its goalie in the final moments of the game for a player advantage in a last-minute push, but FAU took the puck away and freshman forward Quin Menosky shot the puck into the empty net to seal the game at 7-4 in FAU’s favor.

FAU plays away this weekend in a double-header against Auburn University at Advent Health Center Ice in Wesley Chapel, Fla. The games are scheduled for Friday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 29 at 11:45 a.m.

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